Mending
by Daisyfan5534
Summary: The last thing Clementine wanted was to have someone tag along with her to find AJ. Despite this, David came with her. Neither of them see eye-to-eye and they have their issues with one another, but they both care about AJ. While they have their problems with each other they had to put aside their differences to get AJ back, but mending their bad relationship easier said than done.
1. A Rough Start

**A/N: Holy shit a new story! It's a New Frontier story, too! It won't be as long as IJH, but still good. I haven't seen a story like this yet and I'm surprised, I think that it's an interesting dynamic and I wanted a challenge to write. I hope you enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own the Walking Dead Game.**

Mending

Daisyfan5534

Chapter 1

* * *

Three days were long enough, she had to leave. Everything was fine now in Richmond, they had to rebuild, but they'll do fine and it will be good by the time she comes back… if she even comes back…

"Clem?"

The teen turned around to see Javier walk up to her with a jacket in his hand. She liked Javi and was surprised that he stood by her side through it all since they met. It's why she stood by him with his decision when he wanted to go after David and Gabe and went with him. The two of them saved them, unfortunately, Kate didn't make it. She helped him mourn and he thanked her for being there for him. Honestly, he was like an older brother, and at times he reminded her of Luke who last filled that role. Either way, she was glad to have him by her side through all this and even more grateful that she could come back him and his family if she wanted to after she finishes her mission.

"Here." Javier held out a red leather jacket. "I don't want you to freeze."

Clementine accepted his gift and put it on. It fit perfectly. "Thanks, Javi." She's been meaning to find a leather jacket after leaving her blue coat back in Prescott.

"You sure you want to go alone? I don't mind going with you." he asked.

"You have a place here, and you did promise Jesus you'd help out and lead. I'll be fine."

"I know, I just worry."

"You have nothing to worry about. I know how to take care of myself. Actually, I was on my way out, do you mind walking me to the gate?" Clementine asked.

"Of course, Clem."

The two of them started their way towards the gate. They walked in silence, and Clementine appreciated it. It was a nice silence and she got to reflect on her journey with the Garcías. She had some things to think about on her new journey a lot of them were about herself and what she's feeling.

"Hey, guys." Gabe greeted as she came over to them. "Where are you going?"

"The gate, it's time. I'm going to find AJ." Clementine explained.

"Oh," He looked so sad to hear that. "Can I come with you?"

"It doesn't work like that." Clementine told him. "You need to stay here with Javi and your dad."

"You can come with us to the gate though." Javier said.

Gabe smiled as he walked with them towards the gate. Javier yelled at a guard to open the gate. Once the door lifted, the three of them walked out. Clementine walked ahead and put her hands on her hips, it was a whole new day ahead of her. She turned back around with a rare, but a genuine smile on her face. Javi and Gabe smiled back at her, then she turned around and walked away, turning back momentarily to wave goodbye to the García's who waved back.

That was it she was gone. All they could hope was that she comes back. Javi began to walk back inside the wall but turned back briefly to see Gabe still standing there, watching Clem's figure walk away.

"Come on, buddy."

"I miss her already." Gabe said out loud.

"She'll come back, Gabe." Javi said with a smile. He could only hope that he was absolutely sure in that statement.

"I know, I hope it's soon." Gabe began walking back into Richmond. He was upset.

Javier knew how he felt about Clem, frankly, it was obvious. Gabe didn't have the confidence to tell Clem how he felt, and Javi couldn't help but wonder if the kid missed his chance.

The García's walk back inside Richmond, the gate shutting behind them as they continued to David's house. It was a silent walk, Gabe's depressed mood could be felt a mile away. Javi noticed how his head hung low with his hands in his pockets, he didn't blame him; his massive crush on the girl will crush him.

It got his mind back into Clementine, alone out there. After being without AJ for so long, she's finally going to get him back. He's excited to see the little kid, he's more excited to see Clementine happy. But at the same time, he worried about her. He had no doubt that Clem could make it on her own, he's seen it himself, but he'd feel better if he knew she wasn't alone.

"Hey."

Javi snapped out of his thoughts to see his brother leaning up against the raven post outside the house.

"Gabe, want to come help me and you're uncle out around town?" David asked.

"I'm not in the mood." Gabe muttered as he walked past him towards the house to go inside.

David turned to Javi once his son was out of sight. "What's wrong with Gabe?"

"Clem left to go find AJ." Javi explained.

"I see." Javi had informed him about Gabe's little crush. David was surprised when he told him, and he didn't know if he liked the idea of Clem and Gabe together. "I hope she brings the brat back."

"I do, too. You okay?"

"Yeah, just thinking about what she said. Back on the bridge."

"Have you talked to Clem at all since."

"No, I've been meaning to, but I figured it was best to give her some time, at least until AJ comes back."

"David, I've been thinking. I know Clementine is independent and all and she can take care of herself, but maybe it's best if someone goes with her."

"So, you're going to go with her?"

"Actually, I was thinking you should."

"Me?" David scoffed at that, shaking his head. "I can't go with her."

"Come on, David."

"In case you haven't noticed Javi, Clem and I aren't on the best of terms. I'm pretty sure that I'm the last person she wants to be with right now."

"Which is why I think you should go. You and Clem can't be enemies, especially when AJ gets back. Maybe this will help, I don't know, sort things out between you two, besides I think AJ wants to see you as much as he wants to see Clem."

"We're not enemies, just…" He hated it when his brother was right. "She won't like the idea."

"Then tell her you won't take no for an answer."

David huffed. "How the hell am I supposed to find her?"

"She left fifteen minutes ago, you could probably catch her if you hurry."

"Guess I better go pack then."

"Stay safe out there brother."

"I will. Thanks, Javi."

* * *

His goodbyes were quick, he didn't look back at the gate when it closed behind him, he just marched forward looking for a young girl. David was decent at tracking, he followed his gut, going the direction any human would go and he eventually made it to a tunnel. Gabe told them how they got to Richmond through it. David had no clue where Clem was going or how he'd find her, not to mention what he'd say to her to convince the girl to let him tag along, but that was part of the fun, right?

He sighed. David knew he had to catch up with her, but he didn't think she'd get this much of a head start. He slid down into the tunnel walking past the dead walker bodies, occasionally stepping over them. Why was he doing this again? His brother asked him to, but he said it himself: Clem would be fine alone. Was he, himself, worried about Clem being on her own? No, David didn't have any doubt in her mind that she'd be okay. However what she told him on the bridge did worry him, and Javi heard it, too. Maybe that's why he sent him? So if it went wrong he can bring her back… Hopefully.

David finally made it out of the tunnel, breathing in the fresh air. Soon after he saw the walker bodies in front of him on the bridge, then he looked to the right to see a string of more rotting bodies on the road below him, all of them shot through the head. From hearing how good of a shot Clementine is, if his intuition was right, then she headed that way. Where the hell is she going? David climbed down from the bridge and began walking to where he assumed Clementine was going. Nothing but a bare road ahead of him, it might as well be a shot in the dark.

It felt like he was walking for ages, but he ended up in a small town. Tall buildings and shops everywhere, alleyways between them leading to other abandoned streets. David figured it would be best to keep going straight, Clementine probably walked right through the town. Then he heard a glass break from a few streets over. He wasn't alone in this town.

David carefully wandered down the alleyways to the street he assumed was the source of the breaking glass. The street was empty of people, but he immediately saw a sports shop with the front window completely broken. As he walked closer to inspect it, he saw a brick on the shop floor, and he also saw something missing from the store display. Considering the other things on display were related to baseball, he could only guess that the thing missing was a bat. His brother must have rubbed off on Clementine, it was the only thing he could think of. She probably wanted a baseball bat for a weapon. If Clem broke the window, then she's here, then again it could be some other survivor looking for a weapon.

Maybe he should head back? This is probably all for nothing. Clementine will be fine, she didn't need help. There's no point in going, especially if Clem doesn't want him to come, he knows she doesn't.

"Damn girl. How about a smile, doll face?"

The voice caught David's attention. It was male, somewhere up ahead in another street, catcalling a girl who doesn't want it. He remembered when he was with Ava before everything started and she was catcalled by two men. Boy, was that their mistake, Ava, in turn, scared them shitless with a broken bottle and nearly throwing one of them over her shoulder.

"What's the matter, doll face? You shy? Why don't you come on over here, I'll keep ya company."

David followed the sound of the man's now more aggressive tone of voice. There are at least two other people in this town, and one of them is a girl. He soon stopped walking seeing a man in an alleyway with his back to him looking up the other street to who must be the girl. The man began walking up the street out of David's sight. David walked through the alley, slowly, eavesdropping on the interaction. He had no clue if it was Clementine or not, either way, he wasn't going to stand by and let some asshole hurt someone else.

"I don't like being ignored, doll face. I play nice, I promise."

"Let the fuck go of me!"

That was Clem, that was definitely her, and she was in trouble. David rushed down the rest of the alley and looked up the street to see Clementine in a scuffle with that fucker. If he approached now, it that asshole could hold her at gunpoint and he could risk her life. His best chance at saving her was getting a good shot from his position.

David pulled out his gun aiming it at the fight, waiting for the right moment to shoot. The last thing he wanted was to shoot Clementine.

She broke free for a brief moment and Clem picked up a wooden bat from the ground before taking a swing at the guy. The guy took a hit but then yanked the bat out of her hands and wrapped his hands around her throat pulling her into another alley before David could take the shot. He had to hurry.

David ran up the street as fast as he could, stopping in front of the alley where the fight was still happening. The guy shouted and released Clementine after she stabbed him with a shard of broken glass from the shop window she was pinned next to. As he backed up to the other wall of the alley, Clem quickly grabbed the bat again and used it to take out his knees then she hit him over the head and again after the bastard hit the ground so he'd be unconscious.

Well fuck, Clementine had that covered. So much for saving her.

He should say something. Her back was to him, she doesn't know he's here. Clementine knelt down to the guy to search his body, only to stand back up with a gun.

A growl was heard and Clementine looked ahead to a walker coming towards her and would be on her if she didn't act quick enough. She pulled out the gun she found and aimed for the head.

 _BANG!_

Clementine didn't squeeze the trigger, she pulled the gun down and looked at it confused then looked behind her to see David standing there, the barrel of his gun steaming from the shot.

"The hell are you doing here?" She asked as she bent down to pick up her wooden bat.

"Javi wanted me to go with you." David explained.

Clementine scoffed. "I don't need you to come with me, go back to Richmond." she paused. "How long have you been following me?"

"I've been trying to catch up to you. I got into town when I heard glass break. Did my brother rub off on you?" he asked as he took the bat out of her hand.

"Don't change the subject!"

David looked at the bat, seeing blood on the handle, then he looked at Clementine's hand. "You're bleeding."

Clementine looked at her palm, she was too busy fighting to notice. "I cut it on a piece of glass, it's fine." She turned to a clothing shop with a mannequin in the broken front window. Clem walked over to it and began stripping the shirt off the mannequin.

"Clem."

"What do you want?"

"I want to come with you."

"You're not coming with me." She almost laughed at that.

"You were attacked, Clem." David pointed out as he came closer to the teen.

"And I handled it. I would have killed that walker, too." Clementine said as she began to tear up the shirt.

"One second. You would have killed it a second later, that walker might have still been killed in that time, but a second is all it takes for it to cost your life." David said as Clementine tore a long strip from the shirt and began to wrap it around the cut on her hand. "Here, let me help."

David set the bat down on a nearby car and reached his hands out to her.

"I got it!" Clementine snapped as she pulled her hands back. She wrapped her hand tightly then tied the cloth in a knot above the cut and used her mouth and her other hand to tighten it.

She's done this before, David could tell. Clementine's been alone for a long time, she's learned how to do things on her own. She had to take care of herself. Even when she was with AJ, he couldn't help her. AJ was just barely a toddler. AJ…

"I miss AJ too, Clem. And I want to help you bring him back."

Clementine continued to look down at her cut hand. The white fabric wrapped around it slowly turning red as she played with her stub finger. She missed AJ, so much.

"Clementine, please. I know I'm not your first choice of people you'd want to take with you, but I want you to come back to Richmond safe with AJ."

She hated the idea. David _is_ the last person she'd take on this trip. Clementine didn't even know if she was going to go back to Richmond once she gets to AJ. She liked Richmond, but groups weren't her thing. Her one experience with Carver's camp was enough to scare her into not joining a rebuilding society. Javi wasn't Carver though, he was nothing like Carver. In fact, Javi is the only reason she's even considering on going back to Richmond.

Though Javi was the one who sent David. Of course, he was helping rebuild and lead so he sent his brother. She sighed as she tucked the cloth ends under her makeshift bandage. It would be nice to have another pair of eyes, but David? Did she even trust him? That was a question she asked herself many times while they were saving Richmond and even now she doesn't know the answer, but if he did care for AJ like he said he did, then AJ would want to see him too. And if AJ saw that she and David didn't get along, the two most important people to the little toddler, then he was going to be upset. She didn't want AJ to be upset.

Clementine turned to him, swallowing her pride. "Alright, you can come with me."

"Thank you, Clem." David smiled.

"On one condition." Maybe it was only half her pride. "I'm in charge." To say that to him gave her such satisfaction.

"You? To hell with that."

"Fine." Clementine reached beside him to grab her bat from the car hood. "Then Richmond's back that way."

Clementine turned to walk away holding the two ends of the bat behind her head. David watched her walk up the street. Now it was his turn to swallow his pride.

"Clem, wait." The things he'll do for AJ. David caught up to the girl before she got too far. She didn't stop walking, she was completely ignoring him. "You're in charge." David spat.

Clementine stopped dead in her tracks to look him dead in the eye. "I'm in charge?" She asked him, almost tauntingly to see if he meant it.

David nodded before repeating. "You're in charge, Clementine."

The teen smirked. She enjoyed hearing that. "Come on then." Her head turned forward as she began walking. "We've spent enough time in this stupid town."

David walked by her side, although it was slightly behind her. Clementine knew what she was doing and she had an idea of where she was going, unlike he did.

"So where are we going?"

"Prescott."

"Why are we going there? Didn't Badger and his crew destroy it?"

"I have a backpack stashed underground from when I used to stay there every now and then. It's got a map and that's what I need." Clementine explained.

"That's smart; really smart actually." David was impressed, why didn't he think of that sooner. It would have been great for when Ava or some of his other friends would try to steal his whiskey and tequila during this mess.

"So do you know where is AJ? Did Lingard tell you?"

"I know where he is, just not how to get there. And before you ask, I'm not telling you where. I don't want you to just fucking ditch me and go get AJ yourself only to have me save your ass from walkers or some fucking asshole."

"I'm not going to ditch you." David assured her.

"Wish I could believe that." she scoffed.

Already, David was having second thoughts about this. If Clem's going to be like this, then why should he go? He can deal with his brother going off on him about leaving Clementine alone and he could deal with his son being mad at him for the same reason, but this was for AJ. No, this was more than that. Javi had no doubt that Clem could do this on her own, but he sent him to go with her anyway. He sent him with a reason that they both knew that wasn't just having him and Clem work out their differences.

A walker stumbled out of the woods cutting him from his thoughts. Clementine made her way over to it, kicking it in the knee then smacking it in the head with the baseball bat when it was down to kill it.

"How's that bat working out for you?" David asked. Anything to get her to lighten up.

Clementine rested the bat on her shoulder. "I don't know yet."

She left it at that and continued down the road and he followed. So much for small talk. David wanted to talk to her, or at the very least get her to talk. Clem may not like the idea of him going with her, but she didn't have to be so cold. Then again she didn't say much about herself when she joined the New Frontier, other than the fact that she's from Georgia and that she's taking care of AJ, she never said anything else. She went to bed early, she was distant from the group, and she only spoke up when she was worried about AJ's health, then got angry when she was told that they couldn't give AJ the medicine he needed. That led to her stealing the supplies and her getting kicked out and losing AJ.

If he knew what he'd done to her, he would have let her leave with AJ. She was right about him, though. It was hard for him to hear it, but she was right, and he could understand why she's so cold to him. Hopefully, when this is all over she'll ease up on him.

Clementine stopped walking. David snapped out of his thoughts to look at her, then at their surroundings. They were outside a junkyard and he was confused.

"I thought Prescott was an airfield?"

"It is, but… um…" Clementine was hesitant as if she was having trouble saying something. "Marianna… She…"

His heart dropped.

"Javi and I… We buried her over there. I- I thought you'd want to…"

Clementine pointed to a spot near the woods. From here David could see a shovel by a patch of dug-up dirt. He couldn't look away.

"I'll wait over here." she said blankly as she walked away towards the junkyard.

David heard her footsteps leave him. He stood there for a moment, almost in disbelief, then slowly he walked into the dirt to where a grave was made. There was just dirt, nothing more, but underneath lay his daughter. David knelt down in front of it and drew a cross in the dirt. It was the best he could do.

"I wish I could see you again, mija."

One day. If he wasn't so stupid and oblivious to his own people betraying him then he could have seen her. He could have seen the girl she grew up to be.

"I remember the day you were born. July twenty-eighth, at two-fourteen AM. You weighed seven pounds, nine ounces, you were so small when I first held you." He was getting choked up, he held back. "You were my little girl, my beautiful little girl, and from that day I promised to love you forever, mija, and I still do."

He couldn't hold it all back. A couple tears left his eyes, he thought he'd done all his grieving, but to do this put grieving on a different level.

"Te quiero, Marianna… Te quiero." He wiped the tears off his face and breathed. "And I'm sorry."

David stood up and gave his daughter a moment of silence. She deserved so much more than this, but he was thankful she was safe with her family through all this. He may not have expected Javi to step up, but he did and he took care of his family. He should have gone back to them when everything started.

With a sigh, he glanced around the open area to find Clementine messing with a car with the New Frontier logo on the side. Now he had to help her get back to AJ, maybe then he could redeem himself.

He made his way over to the girl, seeing that she was clipping the wires under the wheel to attempt to hotwire the car.

"Hey, you need any help?"

"I got it." Her tone wasn't as harsh as before, though it could be because of Marianna. Clementine got the engine going then jerked her head. "Get in. I want to make it to Prescott before sunset."

David made his way around to the passenger's side and did as she asked while he ignored the fact that he's letting a teenager drive. She put the car into drive and buckled her seatbelt as she waited for David to do the same thing. Once his buckle clicked she lightly pressed her foot down on the gas to accelerate then slowly picked up speed to match the speed limit. Clementine sighed when she glanced at the gas gauge.

"There's not a lot of gas left. We'll probably make it there and it'll be out." she told him.

David looked over to her. "Thank you." He needed to say goodbye to his daughter. He didn't know how much he did, but it made him feel better. She didn't have to do that either, she could have just not said anything. After everything he did to her, she gave him time to grieve over his daughter.

"Yeah." was her reply. She didn't want to say anything more.

* * *

The drive was silent, they didn't have anything to say to each other. David was still baffled by the fact that Clementine let him visit his daughter's grave. They could have walked right by it, and he would never have known, but she gave him that despite everything. He didn't even know if he'd do the same for her if they switched places. A part of him felt like he didn't deserve it, he was just grateful that even though her opinion of him was low, that she had the heart to give him that.

Clementine muttered a swear, which pulled David out of his thoughts as the car slowly came to a stop. They were out of gas. "So much for making it there." she said as she got out of the car. They could see the airstrip further up the road, it was a bit of a walk, but they were close. David stepped out of the car, following Clementine.

"So once we find the map, what will we do?" he asked.

"We can loot what's left of Prescott if there's still light, but I don't feel comfortable spending the night there." Clementine told him.

"Is that bad? The damage?"

"I… I don't know, we got out and drove away as they did whatever they did. Either way, I don't want to stay in a ghost town."

"Probably isn't safe, either." David added.

Silence fell between them as they continued down the road. They didn't have much to talk about. Clem chose to stay silent and David didn't know what to say to her. It was obvious to him that she still didn't want him to go with her, but there wasn't much she could do about it. At the end of the day, they were both doing this for AJ, and if that's the only reason why she's letting him come, then so be it.

Finally, Prescott's gates were in front of them, except for the fact that the gate's been rammed open, the dents on the metal clearly visible even with the sun starting to go down.

"Stay on guard, they brought walkers into this place when they attacked." Clementine said to him.

David nodded in response as they both walked into what once was a good community. He never set foot in Prescott before now, but Clem has. From what Javi told him, Prescott was a good place, some of the people there weren't that great, but good overall. But now it looked like a scene from a massacre; bodies everywhere, the air stuffy and the smell of rotting flesh, buildings destroyed. It was sad, and David was in disbelief. He knew that his men destroyed it, but to see the aftermath of what they did was heart-wrenching. Good people, just gone. His brother, his second ex-wife, his son, could have been killed during this. Even Clementine could have been killed during it. All because he didn't keep track of his men, he let Joan get to them and they did this to Prescott, to other towns, and to top it all off, he would be the fall guy if it all backfired, and he almost was.

"Here it is…" Clementine said aloud.

David noticed how they were far back in Prescott, all the way in the back corner. There wasn't much, just a hammock and tied to a plane and a wall hook, large sheet metal as a roof, and the 'door' was just blue tarp hanging over rope like a curtain. Other than that there was a large rock in the corner of the space which Clementine knelt down in front of.

"Watch my back, I'll try to be fast." she told him.

David checked over his shoulder before looking back at Clem, seeing her push the rock out of the way before digging into the ground. As she dug for her backpack, David glanced around more in the makeshift room. It was very small, barely big enough to fit Clem. She probably froze at night, especially during the winter, the tarp wouldn't do much to keep heat in. Over the teen's shoulder, at the very bottom of the wall, David saw something written: _Goofball, 2_.

The look on her face when he told her that AJ had lived said a lot. She honestly thought he had died from sickness, she didn't get to be there when she thought he died, she was left alone. If he could go back and change it, he would. He should have advocated for her when she begged for the medication, or be more understanding when she took it anyway. Now AJ is out there somewhere, and only she knows where.

A noise from the airstrip caught them off guard. David pulled his gun out and Clementine paused what she was doing and looked over her shoulder. The noise turned out to be a growl and they saw a walker stumble towards the two. Clementine went back to digging out the backpack. David was here, he would kill the walker. She may not fully trust him but it was common sense to kill them.

Finally, Clem pulled the backpack from the ground, she dusted off the dirt and opened it up. She found her blue coat, a frying pan, spray paint, ammunition, some food, water, and what she was originally looking for: a map.

 _CLICK!_

Wait. That was the sound of a gun. Clementine whipped around to see David with his gun aimed at the walker. What was he doing?

 _BANG!_

The walker fell to the ground dead. David turned back to a speechless and wide-eyed Clementine.

"What?" He asked.

Clementine stayed silent, listening. A growl met her ears, then another, and another. Walkers began to spill out of the abandoned building and nooks and crannies. Without hesitation, she zipped up the backpack and slung it over her shoulder and began to run.

"You idiot, why'd you have to fucking shoot it?!" She exclaimed at David who was running alongside her. "We have to shut them in!"

They both made it to the gate. Clementine grabbed one of the doors and began to pull, thankful that the hinges still worked. David hesitantly grabbed the other door and began to push as well.

"Clem, forget this, let's just go!" They could outrun them, wouldn't that be easier?

"We're going to shut them in, now shut up and get the fucking door closed!" she snapped back. She didn't want the walkers to get out and kill people, the last thing the world needed was another herd on the loose.

The doors were heavy at first, but after she got momentum into the door, it got easier. Clementine got her side of the gate shut first, David soon after. They both stood back from it as the walkers began to pound on the gate from the inside. Clementine was so thankful that the gate doesn't open outward and breathed out a quick sigh of relief. She gave David an unnoticeable glare before she opened her backpack and pulled out the spray paint.

"Knew this would come in handy." she said to herself as she shook the can and took the lid off.

She pulled the top of her shirt over her nose then began to spray the red paint on the gate: _DEAD INSIDE!_ The can ran out of paint before she could finish the exclamation point so she tossed it to the side. Clementine adjusted the backpack on her shoulder then looked around then back at the gate.

"I left the bat in there." she sighed, mentally cursing herself before she turned on her heels and walked towards the woods.

"Hey." David said as he caught up to her.

Clementine rolled her eyes briefly, she wasn't happy. "You could have gotten us killed." she said blankly. She was already regretting her decision.

Once again, she was right. "I know, I'm sorry."

She huffed in annoyance, not wanting to get into a fight. "Do you have a knife?" she asked calmly.

"Yes."

"Then use it for when you kill one walker, only use guns for emergencies."

"Alright, I'll do it next time." He had to comply with her. She may be a smartass, but she knew what she was doing and he shouldn't doubt her because she's a kid. "What now?"

Small talk wasn't her thing. Him constantly trying to start a conversation with her was bugging her. "It's getting dark, we'll find a place to set up camp for the night."

"Why don't we set up camp in the car? I mean that way we'll have a roof over our heads."

"The car is in the middle of the road. It's vulnerable, it'd be easier for assholes to get the jump on us. Woods are safer." she explained. "Here's good."

Clementine set her backpack down against a tree then began to gather sticks for a fire. David followed suit, taking the sticks she gathered and lighting them with the dead leaves as starting fuel. Soon enough they had a fire going. Clementine sat up against the tree with her backpack by her side while David sat up against the one opposite of her, the fire in between them. The fire was warm and it kept the cold autumn night at bay, it felt nice. Neither of them said anything, just sitting in silence with only the crackling fire to be heard as everything around them grew darker.

The teen pulled the map out of her bag and flattened it on the ground in front of her. She studied it, trailing paths on it with her finger as she tried to figure out where to go for tomorrow. David couldn't help but extend his neck up to read the map, though the little light and the fire in the way prevented that.

"You need help?"

Clementine's eyes looked up at him, glowing with slight annoyance. She simply shook her head before her eyes went back down to the map.

David pressed the back of his head up against the tree, thinking about how the trip was going to go. This would, one way or another, make things better between them. Maybe he and Clem could become friends, or at the very least get her to trust him. So far, it's not going well, but it could be worse. She has to know he means well for wanting to come along, she probably does. They were doing this for AJ.

Clementine smiled, her finger tapping over McCarroll Ranch. AJ was there. She glanced to her other finger that was over Prescott airfield and her smile faded. It would be a long journey, days, a week at the most. A week with David; might as well tie a ball and chain to her leg. She sighed to herself, she had to stop thinking negatively about him, he wants to help her, he wants to redeem himself. While that's all good, she was having trouble forgiving. He can think what he wants about her but she's going to stand by her decision. She folded the map and tucked it into her backpack.

"Did you find where AJ is?"

Why does he keep doing this?

"Yeah. We'll be on our way tomorrow."

"How far is it?"

"Maybe a week at most."

David nodded, then he thought about how the situation was kind of unfair.

"Get some rest, we have a long day tomorrow. I'll take first watch."

"Clem, I get that you don't trust me with AJ's location, but how do I know that you won't leave me and go off by yourself."

"I won't."

"Then why am I sleeping first?"

Clementine shut her eyes, rubbing them in annoyance then she thought of a solution. She opened them back up and got on her knees to extend her pinky finger over the fire.

David looked at her in amusement. A pinky swear? This was so childish. "Are you serious?"

"Do you want me to promise or not?" She snapped.

He couldn't believe he was doing this. David leaned forward and wrapped his pinky around hers as she looked him dead in the eye.

"I won't leave you. And you better not ditch me!" she told him.

"I won't!"

"Say it."

Never in his life did he think he'd be making a pinky promise with a thirteen-year-old.

"I won't leave you, Clementine."

She took a moment to take his words in. "I'm holding you to that."

"I know you are."

They released each other's pinky and sat back down in their spots. "Now get some sleep. I'll wake you for your shift."

"You sure?"

"Yes."

There's no point fighting her, besides it would be nice to get some rest. He'd rather take first watch, but since she's in charge that won't happen. He knew why too, she's acting like she had to prove to him that she's not a kid. Not that it surprised him, with their past interactions it's clear to her that's how he views her as a person: nothing but a stupid kid. No wonder why she likes his brother, Javi doesn't treat her like a kid. Most of it is probably because she's saved his ass multiple times, but still, Javi never did treat her as a kid. Clementine is far from stupid and though she may be a kid, she understands more than he knows.

As David laid down on his back, he couldn't help but look over at Clem. She's just staring off into the distance, arms wrapped around her knees with a gun in one hand. The incident on the bridge played through his mind once more, he couldn't stop thinking about it. What she said rang a lot of truth about him, then to have Tripp confirm it made it more difficult for him to swallow.

* * *

" _I'm going to keep you alive- keep all of us alive- and hope that that's enough… Enough for atonement." He was sorry for taking AJ, and he's sorry for giving him away when things got rough, but there wasn't anything else he could do._

 _Clementine's hands balled into fists and her eyes closed. "You know, if Ava told me that you were a parent after you kicked me out, I would have laughed right in her face."_

 _David looked at his brother then back at her._

" _Because any parent would understand why I did what I did. Any parent would have done the same." Clementine opened her eyes, locking onto the destroyed buildings in the distance. "Gabe told me what happened when he and everyone arrived at Richmond. You brought in Kate, that I get, but Gabe could have been bitten, you didn't even check, and on top of that, you threw your own brother in a cell. The same brother who took care of your family. The one you didn't even look for."_

" _Everything was chaos when it all started. Everything on the part of town where they were was practically destroyed. I regret it, but-"_

" _That's not an excuse." She interrupted. "I crossed half a state to look for my parents, even though I knew they'd be dead. I was naive, but I still hoped that they'd be alive." Clementine sighed, she missed her family so, so much. "I know for a fact that if it was your kid that was sick, you would have given him the medication, you wouldn't even have to ask, you'd just do it. And you did that… You're a hypocrite."_

 _A hypocrite? He wasn't a hypocrite, but he did bypass some rules because he was the leader. What was he supposed to do? Lock his son up, he wasn't bit, Gabe's harmless. But if he was… That wouldn't have looked good, especially if you pile on the framing Joan did. No, she couldn't be right._

" _I know you're trying to make it up. You did take care of AJ, but you gave him up, too. You abandoned him, like the rest of your family until they came to you. And with everything that's happened, after the riot down in Richmond, after screwing up our escape, after you took AJ, after I-"_

 _Clementine clenched her teeth, her eyes squeezed shut as her head tilted down. She exhaled a couple times to calm down. "David, I am_ trying _, believe me, I am, but…" She shook her head and looked at him. "I can't forgive you for what you did."_

 _David nodded, disappointed at her response. "I understand, Clem."_

" _I really wish you did." she said before she walked away._

" _She'll come around, just… give her some time." Javier said to him._

" _I'm doing the best I can." David responded._

" _She's right you know." Tripp joined in. "You did fuck up a lot, but you are doing your best to fix it. Hell, I respect that."_

" _We're all doing our best to fix this." Javi said._

" _That's not what I meant. You don't understand what you did to her." Tripp said. "When Clementine first came to Prescott, it was the middle of winter. She looked like she went through absolute hell, the kid didn't even say her name when I first met her. Stayed for one night and was gone the next morning. A couple days later, Francine and I were out and we found her sitting on the edge of a bridge, tears streaming down her face, ready to throw herself off. I tried talking to her, but she just seemed… broken; so much so that she just let me pull her off. I brought her back to Prescott, did what I could to knock some sense into her, but I'd hate to think what would have happened if I hadn't been there." Tripp sighed. "If I had known that New Frontier were the reasons why she put herself on that bridge, I would've given her a gun and told her to do what she needed to do, fuck, I'd go with her."_

" _How come she didn't tell you that she was one of them?" Javi asked._

" _I asked her why she was on that bridge in the first place, she probably was about to tell me, but I may have said to Conrad that 'if I ever caught one of those New Frontier fucks in my camp, I would have shot them dead.' She heard and it's why she probably chickened out." Tripp explained._

 _David looked over at Clementine, checking the ammunition of her gun close to the bridge railing. Did he really fuck her up that much?_

" _Clementine's the type of person you'd want to have on your side during a gunfight. She's a smart kid, a good shot, definitely, but her loyalty runs deep for those who've helped her." Tripp turned to David. "Look I don't blame you for Prescott or the shitshow that went on down there, but you put that girl on that bridge and I hope for your sake that if you're in danger, that she has a big enough heart to save you."_

* * *

He drove her to the edge… Literally. Family was all she had, and he took that and let her believe that her last bit of family died. Clementine, as tough and adult as she acts, she's still a kid. She's a kid who nearly took her own life. To hear Tripp say that made his stomach turn, and he had a better perspective on why she's having trouble forgiving him. If it weren't for her, he probably wouldn't have reunited with his family, and if it weren't for the fact that she liked his brother, she probably wouldn't have gone with Javi to save him and Gabe when he drove off. He probably wouldn't be here if it wasn't for her. After everything he did to her, she still helped him and she's letting him come with her to get AJ. He could only hope that this could help lead him to redemption. But more importantly, Javi's reasoning for sending him wasn't just so he and Clem to work things out, because if they get where they're going and AJ's dead, then hell knows what Clem would do. Javi sent him to make sure she comes back to Richmond, and that's what David intends to do.

With his end goal in mind, he finally closed his eyes and fell asleep. He and Clem had a long trip ahead of them.

* * *

 **A/N: Hope you don't mind me changing it up a tiny bit. I really don't like how Clementine forgave David in New Frontier, just after everything I personally believe that she'd still be pissed. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the first chapter of this and I hope you enjoy the second one. Just a warning, chapter 2 goes into heavy stuff. Please follow, fave, and review. K love ya, bye!**


	2. The Truce

**A/N: Chapter 2 here we are. I hope y'all are enjoying it so far. So I'll shut up and you can read.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own the Walking Dead Game.**

 **Warning: This chapter talks about depression, suicide, and attempted suicide. It's just this first italic part, so if you're worried about it triggering bad things, then please skip it. I understand.**

Mending

Daisyfan5534

Chapter 2

* * *

 _She was freezing, but she expected nothing less from being in the middle of winter without a coat. Snow was falling down, not sticking to the ground due to it being wet from raining yesterday. Normally, she'd be huddled up in a home or a building, covering every window and door, surrounding herself with every blanket she could find to cover her in as many layers as possible to keep warm, but not tonight. She couldn't feel anything tonight… she hasn't for the past month… or was it a month and a half? She's been so disoriented she's lost track of time. How could it all get so shitty so fast?_

 _A harsh breeze causes her to hold herself tighter to keep warm on instinct. She wanted to feel something, anything, but ever since AJ was taken, she's lost all feeling. The brand on her arm itched, reminding her of her stupid mistake. Joining the New Frontier was a stupid choice that she only made for AJ's sake. She hoped that they could help him and keep him healthy, but those fuckers would rather let a child die and for what? For one of their baby killing asses to be saved? For their doctor to use it to get high? She shouldn't have ignored that bad feeling in her gut, she should have listened, her gut was always right. And now AJ was dead… From hypothermia or his illness she'll never know, maybe they just left him to die, left him to turn, she wouldn't put it past them. None of them understood what it was like to have a kid, they don't understand what she did or why she did it. Especially David, that fucking asshole!_

 _Fucking David!_

 _Clementine kicked a rock in her path out of frustration. She continued to walk, kicking the rock that was still in her way, eventually making it to a bridge. The rock she was kicking ricocheted off a lead pipe on the ground and hit the wheel of a car that was in her path. She looked up at it to see it was a station wagon. A fucking station wagon, the exact same fucking station wagon from all those years ago._

 _A growl caused her head to jerk to the side to see a walker slowly making its way to her. Clementine picked up the lead pipe from the ground and smacked its skull. Only taking a hit to kill. She turned back to the car in front of her, she remembered how that stranger grabbed her and made her fall unconscious, how when she woke up she was tied up in the backseat, how he carried her out and threatened her to not make a sound. How Lee saved her and she shot the stranger, then saw her dead parents, then how she shot Lee. Because he got bit, because she was stupid, it should have been her, not him. If only she hadn't talked to that fucking stranger, if only…_

 _She snapped, rage fueling her body and before she knew it, her grip on the pipe tightened and she swung at the front window, the broken glass shattering to the concrete below. The car alarm went off and it startled her slightly, and in response, she screamed as if she was in a contest with it. Rage and anger were all she could feel, it was the first feeling she's felt in awhile. She wanted to hold on to it. She swung again at the car hard enough to dent the metal and again, and again, all while shouting every profanity she knew. Her hatred for that stranger, for every disgusting person after that, she released on to that car._

 _Her life fucking spiraled out of control. First her parents, then Lee, Omid and Christa, everyone from the cabin, the good people from Howe's, Luke, Kenny, maybe Jane, and now AJ. It was all her! They were all dead because of her! It should have been her that paid for her mistake, not Lee. She should have gotten shot, not Omid and Christa. It should have been her in the lake, not Luke, it should have been her. ALL OF IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN HER!_

" _YOU FUCKING BITCH!" She yelled to herself._

 _And on top of it, she got AJ killed by trying to save him. Like everyone else, he is dead because of her. Why did she have to kill everyone? Now she was alone. She's not strong, she's not smart, she's not important; she's a stupid, pathetic, worthless waste of space. Clementine killed the car alarm, the pipe getting bent from the hitting force, the car wasn't working anymore. Having exhausted her strengths, she threw the pipe over the side of the bridge and collapsed to her knees and wiped her face of the snot and tears._

 _CLANG!_

 _The pipe… it hit the ground… it took a bit longer than expected… how far up was she? Clementine sniffed as she stood up and walked to the bridge railing and looked over the side. How far up she was took her breath away, she could barely see the pipe on the ground in the dark, it shined slightly. It was a long way down._

 _Her hands gripped the concrete barrier, the anger from before morphing into a different feeling. She shouldn't have let everyone take the fall for her, she should have just left everyone when she had the chance. Maybe none of them would be dead. If only she listened to her gut… maybe AJ would be alive. AJ… her little goofball…_

 _She collapsed to her knees again and began sobbing. Her hands slid off the barrier and the covered her face in shame. She was so useless, why would anyone fucking care for her pathetic ass? Why did Lee care so much for her? Or Luke, or Jane, or AJ? The thought of AJ made her heart shatter, he was dead and it was her fault. They were all probably ashamed of her now, even her parents._

 _The pipe came back to her. How it was at the bottom of the overpass, how it fell a long way down before hitting the bottom. It was a long way down. It's a long way down…_

 _Clementine let out a shaky breath and stood up, looking over the edge again. She was high up, and her body just wanted to get closer to the edge. Clementine climbed up onto the barrier standing close to the edge as she looked down. If she fell, the fall would… it would kill her. She should get down, but the longer she stood the more every part of her wanted to jump. Her thoughts yelling at her, telling her that she was a waste, a stupid little girl, that she deserved to die. But the most common thought was telling her to jump._

 _She sat down on the edge, legs dangling off the side, hands clutching the edge. Was she… was she actually considering this? She didn't want to feel anything anymore, she felt nothing now, but she should just end it. AJ was gone, she didn't have anything to live for. Her one job, the one thing that made her happy, gone… dead. She got him killed, she failed AJ, she failed herself. But most of all, she failed Lee. She was such a failure, and the world would be better off without her._

 _Just jump, Clementine._

 _It will all be over._

 _You aren't worth another breath._

 _Just jump._

 _You won't get anyone else killed if you're gone._

 _The world doesn't need another burden._

 _Just jump._

 _FUCKING JUMP!_

 _With a shaking hand, she pulled out her gun and knife and set them beside her. They'll be of use to someone, surely. She scooted closer to the edge and looked down once more. God, it was so far down. No, she couldn't think about that, she can't chicken out now. She had to think about something else. Her eyes looked forward and she was in awe of the view in front of her. The dark valley surrounded by hills, snow falling from the sky, all illuminated by the moon partly visible from the clouds. The sight was pretty, eerily clamming. It was beautiful… and she wanted it to be the last thing she sees. Finally, her eyes closed, pushing out the last few tears from her eyes. She sat there for a moment, trying to get the courage to make her last move, as she scooted slightly closer to the edge and wrapped her arms around herself, ready to lean forward and end it all but she couldn't bring herself to do it. Then she thought about how if she sat there in the cold long enough, she'd freeze and fall off from the next heavy breeze. Either way, she was done. She didn't have a point to live anymore._

 _A distant sound met her ears followed by a hushed voice, but at that point, she didn't care. She just wanted to die._

" _Hey, hey kid."_

 _There's no point in responding, she's a burden. Hopefully, whoever this was will leave her be._

" _You were at Prescott the other day. Name's Tripp, do you remember?"_

 _Tripp. He came off as a bit of a hardass when he first introduced himself, but that's what she liked about him, he was straightforward. He had the main hand in building Prescott from scratch. It was a decent place. She knew she could trust him off the bat, but it didn't matter now._

" _Kid, I don't know what you've been through, and I can tell that whatever it was put you through hell, but this doesn't make it right."_

 _Why does he care so much about her? She was only going to get him killed, she didn't want to add another name to her list. He should just push her off since she was having trouble doing it herself._

" _There's more to live for that goes beyond what you're feeling. You're young, and I know it seems like the end, but you have to believe me when I say there's more to see in life."_

 _What more can she see? Her dead parents? Shooting the one person who taught her how to survive? A guy's head smashed by salt lick? Sewing up her own arm? See a friend get left behind because she couldn't make it in this world? Shooting a man who almost killed a woman because he was losing it and she had to prove it to her? Having her last reason to live literally yanked out of her arms? At this point, she's seen it all. There is nothing more to see, everything's just so painful._

" _Please. Just come down from there. I can take you back to Prescott, we can talk if you want, but this isn't the answer."_

 _He'd get closer every time he spoke. Even though her eyes are closed, she could tell he was right beside her._

" _Francine, you got a blanket?"_

 _He wasn't alone. Not that it mattered, he couldn't do anything anyway. A blanket was placed over her shoulders and Tripp wrapped an arm around her stomach, pulling her away from the edge. The arm around her shifted up her back and another arm went under her legs before she felt herself get lifted off the barrier._ _And she didn't do anything to stop him. She didn't have it in her to stop him._ _He set her down on the ground and he sat with her, keeping an arm around her. Whether to keep her from attempting to jump again or to keep her warm, she didn't know and she didn't care._

 _Only now she realized how cold she was. The warmth was nice, but oddly painful as her body slightly defrosted. She felt a sharp pain in her chest, she didn't know what it was. She didn't know why Tripp cared about her life, he hardly knew her._ _That's what the pain was. God how long has it been since someone cared about her? With AJ it was really a one-way relationship. She cared about him, but he just saw her as the person caring for him. She hasn't been cared for in so long, she forgot how it felt. She didn't think she was that isolated._ _Clementine sniffed, getting the snot back in her nose. Her emotions were mixed and scrambled in her head, she didn't know what to feel. She wanted to die, but feeling wanted was nice. No, she can't go through this again. No one else can die because of her._

 _Walkers stumbled onto the bridge. Clementine could hear them and she felt Tripp's arm around her leave._

" _Fucking smelly assholes." Tripp muttered. "Don't do anything stupid." He said to her before he got up._

 _Clementine was frozen, only a blanket to keep her warm. They were distracted, she could throw herself off the bridge right now, but now she was having second thoughts. She wished she didn't. Her body felt numb from the cold and the exhaustion from her outrage on the car, not to mention she felt drained from physically putting herself on the edge._

 _Tripp swearing caught her attention and she finally opened her eyes from what she thought would be the last time. He had two walkers he kept at bay with his forearms and the woman he was with, Francine, was pinned up against the smashed car by a walker. Her good heart pulled together what little strength she had and stood up. With the blanket still on her shoulders, she grabbed her knife and gun off the barrier and aimed._

 _BANG! BANG! BANG!_

 _The three walkers fell to the ground. Tripp looked back at her and she lowered her gun. Her head tilted down before she looked behind her, that view ever so pretty. She could still do it._

 _Two hands rested against her shoulders and she flinched at the touch. She was so lost in thought, she didn't even notice Tripp walking towards her. "Come on." He pulled her slightly, ushering her to walk with him. Clementine tucked her weapons away before she let Tripp take her away from the bridge. She was going to live to see another day, that much she knew._

" _Ever ridden a horse before?" Tripp asked anything to get her to perk up._

 _She was still confused on what she was feeling, she didn't respond to him, she didn't want to. But no, she's never ridden one._

 _Tripp assisted her up onto the horse and he sat behind her then he lead the way back to Prescott. Within the longest fifteen minutes of her life, they made it to the gated community. Someone from inside opened the gate to let them in she could feel a warmth from entering, though she couldn't explain it. Once the horse was parked, Tripp got off and helped her down before guiding her to the little infirmary they had here. There was a barrel fire in the middle of a few cots._

" _Elle, do you mind giving the girl a check-up? Make sure she doesn't have hypothermia." He asked a woman there who Clementine could only assume was their doctor. Tripp pushed her shoulders down slightly, causing her to sit on the cot. "Make sure she doesn't run off, either, okay? I'll be back in a bit."_

 _And with that Tripp left. Clementine let the woman, who introduced herself as Eleanor, give her a check-up. Eleanor was nice to her, she didn't try to talk to her, only telling her to do little things for the check-up, she even cleaned her face of the dried tears streams and snot. Soon enough she was done, leaving her alone to sit in front of the fire. She wasn't as cold anymore, shaking a bit but she wasn't freezing as much._

" _Hey…" Tripp was back. "You feeling better?"_

 _She didn't know how to answer._

" _Francine found a coat for you. If I were you I'd put it on and keep it on, you don't want her on our asses."_

 _Clementine opened her eyes and glanced to the blueish-purple coat in his hand, holding it out to her. She sighed as she slid the blanket off her shoulders and accepted it. The coat was thick, made for cold weather, and it fit her almost perfectly. She noticed it was a bit big as she zipped it up. Tripp sat down on a cot perpendicular to hers and faced her. Her mind was repeating the same question over and over._

" _Why?" Why did he save her? She didn't get it._

 _The question took him aback, he thought for a while before he spoke. "What kind of person would I be if I let a kid kill herself? You just… looked like you needed help, someone to talk to at least."_

" _You shouldn't have." She said blankly._

" _Can it!" Tripp snapped. "Anyone with a crystal shot like that and a good heart to save people they don't know deserves to live."_

 _If he knew what she's done, how many people she's gotten killed, maybe that opinion would change._

" _So what happened?"_

 _She didn't want to tell him._

" _Where you from?"_

 _It didn't matter._

" _Can I at least know your name? I want to know the name of the kid who saved my life."_

 _She sighed. "Clementine."_

" _Clementine? Well, it's nice to finally meet you, and thanks for saving my ass."_

 _Her head tilted down to look at her feet barely touching the ground._

" _So what were you doing out there, Clementine?"_

" _Why do you care?"_

"Y _ou saved my life, so I figured I help save yours."_

" _I'm not worth it… Believe me, I'm not."_

" _Alright, I don't know what the fuck's gotten into that fucking head of yours, but throwing yourself off a god damned bridge is not going to help you! You look like a smart kid, you wouldn't be here if you weren't. You need to quit acting like this."_

" _Like what a kid?" she retorted as if she's heard it so many times._

" _Age doesn't matter, you're being a little fucking pissant!" Tripp relaxed a bit. "Look, I don't know what you've seen, but I know a lot of people have felt what you've felt and some of them aren't here because of it. You nearly became one of them."_

 _She didn't know if she still wanted to die. The feeling lingered, but it wasn't as strong._

 _"Listen, I'm going to tell you what an old friend of mine told me._ _Find a reason that makes you want to chase the sun."_

" _The fuck?"_

" _I'm not going to explain time zones and that shit, but if you could follow the sun, it would never set and your day would never end. So I want you to find a reason that would make you want to chase it so your day is a little bit longer."_

" _Like what?"_

" _What's something you've always wanted to do?"_

 _When was the last time someone asked what she wanted to do? She's never had control on what she wanted. She always listened to her group and did what they wanted, the only time she would ever have a voice was when the group needed a tiebreaker, but that always leads to someone being pissed off at her. Even when she was with AJ, she always put him first for everything; food, water, rest, and everything else. The things she wanted to do before everything started were things like becoming a vet or have ice cream every day, childish things like that that she can't do anymore._

" _I don't… I've never…"_

" _Then let me give you a head start. Learn how to play an instrument, go see a bunch of landmarks, see the northern lights, travel to Canada or Mexico or even South America, kill every fucking walker, learn a new language, create your own, write a book, paint a picture, even chasing the sun to just scream at it. It's your life, and you've got a lot you can do that's not just surviving." Tripp suggested. "I'm not going to tell you what to do, but if I were you, I'd find something to work for. Just whatever you do end up doing, I hope I don't find you at the bottom of a cliff."_

 _It's her life. She can do whatever she wanted. People can change, leave, and die, but doing something for herself wouldn't do any of that. She's never done anything for herself before._

" _Did all of that get through your head?"_

 _Clementine nodded._

" _Good. You can stay the night here if you want, I have the same spot cleared out for you."_

 _She was at a loss for words. She didn't know what to do now. The bridge was always there, but so is the rest of the world._

" _Do you feel like telling me what you were doing on that bridge?" he asked._

 _After everything she's gone through, Clementine knows better than to let another person in. She just met Tripp only days ago, and they've never spoken other than him showing her where she'd stay and today. Then again what more did she have to lose?_

 _She made a noise as if she was going to start saying something, but she was interrupted before she could speak._

" _Tripp!"_

" _What is it, Conrad?"_

" _Just got back from the small town east here I was scavenging for the bar. I spotted New Frontier there."_

" _The same New Frontier that attempted to rob us?"_

" _The same fuckers who got away."_

" _If I ever catch one of those New Frontier fucks in my camp, I'll shoot them on sight." Tripp said to him._

 _Maybe it's best if she kept her mouth shut._

" _I second that, bastards almost stole a fucking horse."_

" _Do me a favor and ask around to see if anyone else has spotted them around here, the last thing we need is another attempt at a raid."_

" _On it."_

" _Sorry about that." Tripp turned back to Clementine, he saw the look on her face. "What?"_

" _Nothing, I hate the New Frontier too." she said, biting her tongue on why._

Tripp smirked. " _See, I knew you were smart."_

 _Eleanor came out of the little infirmary shack they had and Tripp stood up to go talk to her about if she's okay. While his back was turned she walked away towards the back of the airfield where she stayed last time. The small space she reminded her she was alone, and she climbed into the hammock that was set up. Clementine let out a big sigh as she closed her eyes. She had a lot to think about, and she fell asleep before she could give it an actual thought._

* * *

Clementine still remembered how she felt that day. It was the lowest point of her life. Everything was just so bad, it felt like it would never get better. It wasn't just a spur of the moment thought either, she's thought about it since she was eleven; not the suicide part, but the thought of why was she here instead of someone else, why she kept going when everything was shit. Even when she was eleven she felt like she should have been the one who died instead of the ones who did, but never had that feeling been amplified to the point where she wanted to take her own life, not until last winter when she almost did.

She took what Tripp said and thought up of things she could do. The one thing that stood out was to travel, she didn't know where but she figured that she should start there. While the rest of winter was spent grieving over AJ, during the spring she began to scavenge for books or pictures about places she could go. She didn't really care where she just wanted to get out of there. So her plan was to pack a bag, find a vehicle, and leave to see everything she found interesting to visit.

She never stayed at Prescott for more than a couple days. Tripp did try to make a connection with her when she was there, she remembered the first time she came back after Tripp found her he accidentally called her Chloe. While it was a mistake, and she forgave him, she didn't really want to make a friend, despite his attempts. She'd always shrug it off, then he stopped trying, only making conversation when she enters Prescott, sometimes when she leaves, too. But since the Chloe incident he hadn't tried saying her name until recently.

A big reason why she never stayed long in Prescott was because of the people there. She always kept to herself which always stirred up the occasional rumor about her, and she partly blames that for being a reason why Tripp stopped trying to befriend her. A couple of nights she caught a shadow of a man watching her sleep. Eli was the worst, he was a scumbag. Everyone in Prescott knew it. She traded with him a few times before he gave her faulty bullets, but she never really shook the one time she wanted a small med kit and was willing to trade some good stuff for it, but instead of that, Eli wanted her to take off her shirt in exchange. She was confused why he wanted that, and immediately declined and left Prescott that night. She didn't feel comfortable staying the night there. Clementine had thought about going to Tripp about it, but she always told herself she wouldn't be there much longer and she'd be off traveling. Shooting Eli was a mistake, but she didn't regret it.

After David met up with them and she found out AJ was alive, she was finally able to suppress the thought of ending it all. When they were sneaking back into Richmond, she managed to talk to Tripp alone.

" _Tripp, I… I don't know if AJ's alive or if David's just fucking with me, but thank you."_

The smile on his face made her happy.

" _I got one question though. Did you purposely shoot Eli?"_

" _No, it was an accident, but the piece of shit deserved it. Believe me."_

" _I've heard things about you, things I'd rather not repeat. But I know you well enough to know they're not true, at least the ones I know you're smart enough not to do. I've been meaning to find a reason to kick him out. If he did something to make you uncomfortable or done anything to rub you the wrong way, that would have been enough for me."_

" _There were a lot of creeps in Prescott and I always thought I'd be out of there soon. I never really intended to make a friend. Sorry if I was bitchy by the way."_

" _I'm just glad you're okay."_

She was glad she thanked him before he died. If Prescott didn't have creeps running around, she probably would have stayed instead of trying to leave, she really trusted Tripp. He didn't treat her like a kid, he did what he could to help her, also his way of swearing would always make her smile. She wished she got to know him better before he died. Clementine's hoping that AJ is alive, but if not, then she had to figure out what she wanted to do… again. She'll do that for Tripp.

The teen opened her eyes, grunting as she sat up. She remembered how much she hated sleeping on the ground.

"Morning."

She glanced over at David before rubbing her eyes. That's right, he's with her, too, much to her dismay. The fire in between them was just smoke, one stomp would put it out for good.

Clementine looked through her backpack and pulled out a couple granola bars, tossing one to David. She stood up and without a word gave the dying fire a good stomp and twisted her foot in the ashes to smother it out. Clementine tossed the backpack over her shoulders and began to start her week-long journey to McCarrol Ranch. David called out to her for going ahead without a word and she ignored him as she ate her granola bar.

She always did what she could to ration out her food. She would give AJ more nutrients because he needed them more than her. The longest she's been without eating was five days, not because she didn't have any food, but because what they did have was barely enough for the both of them and AJ would be the one to get it. Once after cleaning her and AJ off in a lake, she washed her hands and cleaned all the gunk out from under her nails so she could bite her nails for food because she was that hungry. It was either that or starve for another day.

Now that it's just her, her eating habits changed slightly. She still rationed her food, but she'd always savor whatever she did eat, making sure to eat slow. Even when she knew she had food, she was always worried about the next time she'd eat. It hasn't got to the point where she resorted to biting her nails, she promised herself she wouldn't do that again, but she'd never go without eating for more than two or three days depending on what she has.

While she noticed David had finished his granola bar in two bites, she took her time with hers. The food in her backpack was being stored for when she was ready to leave, which is why there's at least a months worth of food in there, that much for just her. While she could eat every day, she'd rather space it out so it lasts longer. Hunting was never her strong suit, and she always thought it wasted a bullet on an animal when it could kill a walker or an asshole, but she'll take animal meat over canned food any day. Clementine finally finished her granola bar, thinking about when to eat next.

David noticed how slow Clementine was when she ate. He found it odd, though he understood. With her being alone, she probably had to ration out her food because she never knew when her next meal was. Especially if she gave most of her food to AJ, which she probably did. He would give his kids more, even if it meant he couldn't eat at all. With Clem it was obvious she was underweight, and it was even clearer to why she was with AJ looking completely healthy. It only hit him harder when he remembered he sent her away in the when winter started to kick in, when she could have easily frozen to death.

"Are you absolutely sure you know where we're going?" He asked her.

"Yes."

"And you're sure this is the right way?"

"I know where to go!"

Clementine began to walk ahead of him. David should know better than to keep talking to her, she only gets colder each time. She couldn't stay mad forever, though, she'll have to forgive him eventually. Right?

"Come on, are we just going to walk in silence for a week?" David continued.

"I'd like to."

David was annoying the crap out of her. She wasn't afraid to show she's bitter, it didn't matter, she only hoped that it would get him to leave her alone. Besides Clementine figured that he was only doing this to try to get on her good side or that this would get her to forgive him. He didn't really care about AJ, just about himself and how he's doing this to make himself look better.

David wasn't enjoying Clementine being snarky. Maybe she hoped that he'll get fed up with her and leave, he wouldn't put it past her. Other than her having trouble forgiving him, there's not really any reason for her to be like this. No one wants to be alone, and yet Clementine would rather be on her own than be with him. That was something he didn't understand. If family is Clementine's number one priority then surely she'd want to be in a group. She's been alone with AJ for nearly two years and that's how it's always been for her. Then she puts her trust into the New Frontier and everything went south.

They continued to walk in silence, David finally listening to Clem's request for now. When the sun was at the highest point in the sky they made it to a bridge. David noticed a car beaten down with all the windows smashed. There was broken glass scattered around the car. It was completely destroyed. He continued to walk past it then noticed that Clementine wasn't by him.

He turned around to see her standing in place, fixated on the view of the valley and mountains. She had a weird look on her face as she stared off into the distance. What was she doing?

"Clem. What's wrong?"

"Nothing… it's just a nice view."

Clementine pulled her head away from the view and continued forward. As he began to walk alongside her he looked back at the view she was looking at. It wasn't the best, he's seen better, but why would she be acting weird around it. Then it hit him, it was where she tried to kill herself. He could see it, Clementine sitting there in the middle of winter ready to end her life. David looked back to Clementine slightly ahead of him, maybe he should say something, then again maybe not. It was personal to her, and when she's ready, she'll let him know. Even if he already knew, he wanted to hear it in her own words. But now that he pieced that together, he couldn't keep his eyes off her, he was worried that she'd suddenly try to make the jump. She didn't, she just kept her head up and forward, it almost seemed forced. Once they were off the bridge he heard her sigh lightly as they continued walking.

David closed his eyes then looked back at the bridge behind them. Maybe if Clem gave him the map they could find another route back to Richmond so she didn't have to cross that bridge again.

 _MEOW!_

The two of them turned to the sound only to see a black cat sitting on the hood of a car. Clementine smiled and began walking over to it.

"Hi, Charlie."

David was surprised. That was the most positive Clementine has been.

"Didn't know you liked cats." David said.

"I'm not a big fan of dogs." Clementine said as she pets the cat who immediately warmed up to her.

"Why'd you name it Charlie?"

"Because he looked like a Charlie!" Clementine scratched behind the cat's ears causing it to purr. "I missed you too, Charlie."

David himself liked dogs more. He got to train with dogs at the academy once and it was one of the best days of his life. Clementine seemed genuinely happy around the cat and she seemed more relaxed. David walked over to her and Charlie. It's been so long since he's seen a domestic animal, he wouldn't mind petting one for a bit. Charlie saw David reach his hand out to pet him and immediately arched his back and hissed at him, showing his teeth. David retracted his hand and took a couple steps back. Clementine glanced back at him then scratched under the cat's chin once he relaxed.

"Good cat." She smirked.

David narrowed his eyes at the remark. The nerve of this girl will cause him to crack if it continues, it's probably what she wants.

"I'll see you around, Charlie." Clementine said as she gave the cat one final scratch behind the ears before she continued down the road with David following her.

"Is the cat only friendly to you?" he asked.

"What, jealous?" Clementine asked back.

"Just answer the question."

"I've never asked around Prescott about Charlie, so I don't know."

Clementine met Charlie during the spring after AJ was taken. She'd see the cat every now and then, always stopping to pet it, and she figured it was a stray even before the world ended. Charlie once brought her a dead mouse for her to eat after Clem shared a can of tuna with him. The tuna sucked, she never liked it when she was younger, her dad loved it though. Thankfully it wasn't as bad as she remembered. Charlie didn't seem to mind, Clementine thought it was funny how the cat brought her a mouse. She took the dead mouse and left it outside her little room, if you could call it that, at the airstrip. The next night she heard the most girlish scream from a man who thought the mouse was alive. Needless to say, she didn't have to worry about anyone watching her sleep anymore. One day she spent the entirety of it to petting Charlie because she had nothing better to do. That was a good day.

David didn't ask anything after that, and they continued walking in silence. A town came into view as they kept moving, Clementine hasn't said anything about scavenging it or if they needed to go through it, she just stayed silent. He'd get more out of someone who's mute than her.

She stopped in her tracks and pulled out the map. Clementine unfolded it and began to check what way to go. David looked over her shoulder in hopes to find out where they were going, but alas, she caught him and jerked her body away so he couldn't see.

"I can help, you know."

"I'd rather not get lost." she responded with as much snark as possible.

Clementine folded the map back up and began walking through the town. Despite wanting an explanation, David followed her anyway. He didn't know how long she was going to keep this up, but he hoped it wasn't long.

"Why are we going through the city?"

"What do you think? We're going to AJ."

"So he's here?"

"I said that it'd be a week to get to him, figure it out."

"I'm just saying that you could be wrong, might be best to have a second pair of eyes."

"I'm not fucking stupid! You don't get to look at the map."

"I would like to know where we're going."

"Still not changing my mind."

David growled in his throat, if she's doing this to provoke him, it's working.

"Hey! David!"

The two of them turned to the voice and saw a man walk up to them. David smiled at the familiar face and walked towards him to meet in the center.

"Nathan!" The two gave each other a hug with a good pat on the back. "It's been so long."

"Same here, rookie."

Nathan was in David's squadron back in the army, though he was a level higher, they were good friends.

"How've you been?"

"Considering all this, about as well as anyone could." Nathan looked to the side of David. "And this must be the famous Marianna, David's talked a lot about you. God, she's beautiful just like Isabella."

David glanced to where he was looking to see Clementine standing next to him. He tried to say something but at the mention of his ex-wife and his daughter he froze.

"Oh… um… I'm not his daughter…" Clementine was shocked at what he said, and she felt a bit insulted to be called David's daughter. She was nothing like him.

He pulled himself together. "Mari died, a while ago actually. This is Clementine, she's…" the teen looked up at him in curiosity at what his next words were. "A friend of my brother's."

"You mean the baseball brother?"

"Yeah."

"Well, it's nice to meet you, Clementine." He stuck out his hand to shake her's. "Sorry about the little mix up earlier, I still meant what I said. Your parents made themselves a pretty girl."

"Uh… Thanks?" Clementine pulled her hand away.

"Not a problem, any friend of David is a friend of mine."

"We're not friends." Clementine told him.

"Then you should know David's going to be a good friend to you."

She scoffed. "I'll believe it when I see it."

David glared at her for a second before turning his attention back to his friend. "So where you going?" he asked.

"I'm just walking along, trying to find a place to stay."

"Have you checked out Richmond?" David asked.

"No, is it safe?"

"There's a community there. My brother's helping out there actually. Should be safe."

"How do I get there?"

"Just go straight back that way and follow the roads, you should get there eventually."

"You know, David. Why don't you go with him? That way he won't get lost and you two can catch up." Clementine suggested.

"I would but I promised I'd stay with you, _remember_?" David asked, almost tauntingly, which earned himself a light glare from her.

"And where are you two off to?"

"None of your business." Clementine responded. "We're burning daylight, David, let's go."

She began walking off, bypassing David's friend.

Nathan looked at David, confused about the situation. "Don't ask, just find Richmond and I'll explain it when I come back. Good seeing you again."

"You too."

David caught up with Clementine. She looked back at him then further behind her to Nathan who was walking away from them. She gave out a light sigh of relief as her head came back to the front and picked up her walking speed. David looked back at Nathan who was almost out of sight as he and Clem continued through the town.

"What's up with you?" David asked, noticing Clementine being extra cautious.

"I don't know, something about Nathan gave me a bad feeling."

"Nathan's a good friend of mine."

"Good people change, I just listened to my gut."

"And what exactly gave off a bad feeling?"

"Well, it was the same feeling I got when I met you, only worse. And my gut was right about it then."

Clementine walked ahead of him, but David stopped, this was the last straw.

"Alright, I've put up with enough of your shit." he said to her, causing her to turn around. "I've had enough of your little punk-ass remarks!"

"Well, what did you fucking expect? Huh? You're an ass and I sure as hell don't trust you! Why'd you even come?"

"AJ-"

"You never gave two shits about AJ until he was in your care! And you gave him up, too."

"AJ's not the perfect little boy you know and love. He was a fucking brat, but I still cared about the one thing you threw away!"

"I threw away?! You pissant hypocrite! Let me guess, him being a brat was a reason you won't admit to giving him up! Did it ever occur to you that he was being a brat because he wanted me? It's not like you ripped him out of the arms of the person who actually cared for him… Oh wait, you fucking did!"

"Better than him being raised by a potty-mouthed kid thief who doesn't know shit! You and AJ would have been dead had it not been for my group!"

"You're family would have been dead had it not been for me! Did you forget that? I've learned how to survive on her own when things were hard, even with AJ, you just pass your shit stick along to someone else so it's not your problem anymore!"

"I'm not going to stand here and listen to your shit!" David turned away from her.

"Then go back to Richmond, I don't need you! I never needed you! You're fucking lucky I like your brother!"

"You little-"

David turned back around, but before he could say anything, he quickly heard metal ring on the pavement then got cut off from being hit over the head, knocking him out cold.

* * *

His head pulsated as he slowly regained consciousness. What the fuck did Clementine do? Did she seriously hit him over the head? David tried to move a hand to his pulsing head but he couldn't. He grunted as he shifted, now becoming more aware. His hands were behind his back, then he opened his eyes, the light blinding him momentarily, before he pulled on his hands again, now feeling that they were bound together.

David snapped into focus, he looked behind his back to double check that his hands were tied. They were, and he noticed he was sitting in a chair. Unless Clementine did this to make sure he didn't try to follow her, then this wasn't her. Her knocking him unconscious, he wouldn't put it past her, especially after their fight, but tying him to a chair isn't something she would do. So if Clementine didn't do this, then…

He looked next to him and saw Clementine unconscious, sitting in a chair with her hands behind her back, just like him.

"Clem!" he whispered.

She grunted, but gave no other response. David looked around where they were. It was a restaurant, old and abandoned since everything started. A majority of the windows were boarded up and their chairs were in the back near the kitchen.

"The fuck?"

David turned back to Clementine, she was awake now and she pulled on her restraints. There was no use, they didn't budge. She looked around, soon making eye contact with him, then to the ropes on his wrists, then down to the floor. They were stuck here together, might as well make conversation.

"Any idea what happened?" he asked. He had no clue.

Clementine shook her head.

They were both blindsided. But if someone were to attack him first then Clem would have put up a fight. If she didn't then that means whoever did this wasn't alone. It would make sense why they were both knocked out at the same time.

"Well they're awake."

The two of them looked up at the man who came into view. He was about average height, dirty blonde hair, brown eyes, with Clementine's backpack in hand. The man set it on one of the tables and began looking through her belongings.

"You two got some good shit. I should be thanking you both, if it weren't for your bickering, we never would have found you."

They were fighting. That's how they got caught. They were too busy yelling at each other, that they let their guard down and got the attention of whoever these people are.

The man turned around to face them, his eyes scanning them until David noticed his attention wasn't completely on him. David looked at Clementine, who looked back at him, both waiting for the person in front of them to say something. The man smirked before walking towards them, stopping in front of Clementine. Without hesitation, he used one finger, tucked it into the top of her shirt, and pulled the fabric away from her as he looked down her body. Clementine immediately kicked him which knocked him back a few steps.

The man chuckled at her reaction. "Feisty, are we?"

David felt a weird sensation of anger. He couldn't explain it.

"God, you're such a pretty face." The man said as he gripped Clementine's face harshly. David watched him place his knee in her chair, right in between her legs. While the bastard's knee wasn't purposely touching her anywhere he shouldn't, it was enough to piss him off even more.

"I'd really hate to hurt you."

Clementine kneed him in the crotch then moved her head forward to bite down on his hand. He howled in pain and crumpled down to the floor after yanking his hand out from her mouth. David's mouth twitched slightly to a smile, feeling a sense of pride he also couldn't explain.

The man pulled himself together and he was pissed as he took the couple steps forward to Clem, a fist raised. "You little bitch!"

Clementine braced herself for impact, but David kicked the bastard in the knee before he could swing, sending him down to the ground beside her. He wished he could do more to him than just a measly kick. Clementine looked up at him seeing the anger on his face that she's never seen before.

The man grunted on the floor before looking back at David. "Awe, is daddy mad that I'm playing with his little girl?" He asked tauntingly.

David felt his hands ball into fists. He wanted nothing more than to pummel the fucker. That's what it was, it was a parental instinct, but he was confused why it was triggered by Clementine of all people. Not that it mattered, he wouldn't let that piece of shit hurt her.

"Hey, what the fuck are you doing?"

Another man walked into the room, he was taller, had darker hair, and had a walkie-talkie in his hand.

He glanced at David and Clem then focused back on his friend on the ground. "Did you seriously get your ass kicked by them?"

"The bitch fucking wanted me to hurt her!"

"I told you not to mess with them! Now look what happened."

"Oh, shut the fuck up! What's wrong with having a bit of fun?"

The second man swore under his breath then set the walkie-talkie on the table as he shook his head. "Grab him, I'll get the girl."

"Bullshit, I'm grabbing the girl."

"You messing with her is probably the reason you're on the ground." The taller man took ahold of Clementine's arm and yanked her up to her feet. "Now do what I say. Let's just lock them up then we'll talk."

The man on the ground stood up and grabbed David's arm and pulled him up. His rage cooled down, but he still wanted to kick his ass. As much as he wanted to, a quick death glare from Clem telling him to not fuck up and pull the same shit he did back in Richmond kept him grounded. Their captors walked them back to the kitchen and opened the door to a freezer. The guy holding Clementine kicked the back of her knee, sending her to the floor with a grunt. David was given the same shove and kick, though it didn't send him completely to the floor, it caused one leg to kneel.

The perverted fuck grabbed the back of his shirt and yanked him down to sit on the floor. It wasn't long before he felt Clementine's back pressed up against his. The taller man grabbed a roll of duct tape and with the help of his buddy wrapped the tape around him and Clem a few times to keep their backs to each other. Once they were secured, the taller man wrapped more tape around David's legs. He didn't fight it, there wasn't a point. The man finished, tearing off a lengthy piece and tossing the roll to his buddy, to tie Clementine's legs together. There wasn't a lot he could do, the man put the piece over David's mouth to gag him, then heard a muffled grunt from the girl behind him to confirm she was gagged too.

David looked over his shoulder, eyeing the creep who was knelt down in front of Clem, she was tied just like him. The fucker placed a hand on her knee and gave it a light squeeze, David felt Clementine jerk against him. A smirk played across the guy's face before locking eyes with David's death glare. The man got his message and he stood up, tilting up Clementine's chin on the way before he left the freezer, locking them inside.

Now that they were alone, they began to struggle but it was no use. The tape was strong and the rope on their wrists was tied tight. They both gave one last attempt before they both sighed in defeat. Clementine tilted her head back, resting it against David to look up at the ceiling as she came to terms that she was trapped. She lifted her head off him and began scanning their surroundings. There was a piece of glass across the room and her face lit up at the chance of escape, but then remembered she was tied to David, and since she was gagged, she couldn't tell him about it. They had no choice but to wait for the fuckers outside to do something, and at the thought, she got chills down her spine at the creep who was toying with her.

David finally calmed himself down from the creep touching Clementine. He was relieved the fucker hadn't violated her in any serious way, but who's to say he won't actually hurt her. Clementine's a tough kid, but that's what she was, a kid, and he'd be damned if he couldn't stop her from getting hurt. David tried to reach the knots on his wrist but he couldn't, although he could probably grab Clementine's and untie her hands.

Clementine felt David's hands brush against hers, she jerked her hands away and glared back at him. She didn't need him to hold her hand, she wasn't scared.

David elbowed her in the back at her stubbornness.

"MPH!"

Before she could elbow him back, his hands tugged on the ropes on her wrists. She understood now. David got ahold of Clementine's knot and slowly began untying her, even if it was difficult because he couldn't see what he was doing. Once he got that first tight knot undone, it got easier, and soon enough Clementine's hands were free. She had to wiggle a bit to get her arms unpinned from behind her and so she could tear the tape keeping her and David together.

After she got the tape off her, she peeled the strip off her mouth. She gasped, breathing in air, before she turned to David and ripped the tape off his mouth, his first words a muttered swear from the pain. "That was for elbowing me."

Clementine began untying his hands. "For an idiot that was smart."

"You're welcome."

The binds loosened around his wrists. David rubbed them to get the feeling back then he and Clem began untying their legs. Now that they were finally free, they stood up and got a good look at the room they were in. It wasn't a big freezer, Clementine figured it was only half the size of the meat locker she was trapped in when she was younger.

David looked at the door, he knew it was locked but he was worried about how long it will be before someone comes in, he just hoped it wouldn't be the creep. He reached out to Clementine's arm.

"Hey, are you okay?"

Her eyes met him, to the hand on her arm, then back up at him. This was weird. She heard the concern in his voice, and it surprised her, like how it surprised her when he kicked the fucker before he could hit her. She pulled her arm away.

"I'm fine, just… I'm fine."

"Clem."

"Really. I'm okay."

That piece of shit made her uncomfortable. She was scared, but she'd never show it. Clementine never understood why guys would do things like that, but it never failed to worry her. She shook her chills off and walked away from him, noticing a vent. Clementine surveyed it, and David could see the gears in her head turning.

"You got an idea?" He asked as he stood by her again.

"If we get the vent unscrewed, I might be able to climb through it and get out."

David tried twisting one of the screws with his fingers, but they kept slipping because it was screwed in tight. They needed something. Clementine looked to the glass, seeing that it was too thick, also messing with glass might be a bad idea, she didn't want another cut. She turned to David and an idea came to mind.

"Give me your vest."

David gave her a confused look but did it anyway. He slipped the vest off his arms and gave it to her. He watched Clementine put one of the buttons on the vest between her fingers and she used it to attempt to unscrew the vent. It was hard to get the screw turning at first, but she eventually got it. David saw a smile spread across her face as she got another screw undone, but it faded once she saw that the last two were out of her reach.

"I got it." David took his vest back and unscrewed the higher screws.

He pulled the vent cover off and Clementine lifted herself inside. David put his vest back on before she started moving through it.

"Clem, be-"

"I know." She interrupted before crawling her way through.

God, if that fuck caught her he couldn't imagine what he'd do. David walked towards the door waiting for Clem. He heard it unlock and David was relieved to see Clementine push the door open. She brought a finger to her lips as she crouched down to make herself more hidden. David followed suit as she lead the way out of the kitchen. They could hear the two bastards talking, but they couldn't make out what they were saying. David scanned the restaurant seeing the two at a table from across the room, by the front door. He looked back to the kitchen door, seeing that it was blocked by shelves and boxes. They could escape that way, but it might take a while to move everything, and they could risk getting caught. Clementine made her way to the table that had her backpack, and slowly slid it off as she stared back at the two, making sure she's not caught. She breathed out a sigh of relief before searching her backpack, everything was still in there. They didn't have any weapons, and she was upset that they weren't in the bag, but she did pull out the frying pan she had.

"You have a frying pan?" David asked in a hushed voice.

"You don't?" She said back as she twirled it in her hand.

It was their only weapon until they find where those bastards put their weapons. Clementine slid her backpack on and David pulled on her arm and jerked his head back to the kitchen, he wanted to make a break for it with the backdoor. She saw the door, and she shook her head. As easy as it would be to do so, it was blocked off and they'd have to move everything out of the way and risk making a sound that would alert the bastards.

"Dude, I swear you're stupid."

"Come on, I was only teasing her."

"She's a bit young, don't ya think?"

"At this point, I don't care. Honestly, when was the last time you had any? Besides, we don't need her."

"If you keep messing with her, your balls are going to get cut off, you do realize that right? It was the one rule that we swore we'd keep if it ever applied."

"Rules, shmules. I don't give a damn. What she won't know won't hurt her."

"We just have to wait, then maybe you'll change your mind."

David peered up and saw one of the men stand up heading towards the back where they were. Clementine and David hid behind a booth to avoid detection as the tall man walked into the kitchen. Clementine around and she froze seeing her knife and gun along with David's weapons, they were over there on a table a few booths down from them. David noticed them, too. She started towards the weapons, but David placed a hand on Clem's shoulder for a moment, a silent gesture telling her to stay put. He slowly made his way over to the table. With every step he felt himself getting more and more nervous, he didn't want to imagine what would happen if he got caught. He felt his heart pound, the adrenaline pumping through his blood, as he got to the table. David began reaching for his gun, but just before his fingers could graze it, there was a cold metal to his head.

"Don't even think about it!" The creep caught him.

Clementine ran up and whacked him over the head with her frying pan and kicking the back of his knee to send him to the ground. It wasn't enough to knock him unconscious though.

"They fucking escaped!" the creep yelled.

Clem and David grabbed their weapons from the table and booked it towards the door, only to duck down from the other guy who fired a couple shots at them. David fired back from their cover, barely missing one of them. If they attempted to go for the door now, they'd risk getting shot.

A few more shots were fired hitting the light fixtures above them, causing them to shield their heads, but it was enough for them to get grabbed again. The creep punched David in the face, dazing him for a brief moment before slamming his head through a window then tried to slam his head down on a sharp glass shard, hearing growls among the grunting in the background.

"Once, I'm done with you, your girl is mine!" he muttered to him.

His taunt was enough to get David to overpower him. He swung his body around and slammed the bastard's neck down on the glass, not enough to kill him though.

"I'm gonna fucking end y-AH!" A walker reached in through the window and grabbed the guy, biting his neck. He was done for.

David turned around quickly to see Clementine kick the other guy off her, knocking him back into another window soon taken out by another walker to eat him. More and more walkers started breaking through the glass windows. David and Clementine booked it to the front door, each knocking one of the double-doors into a walker as they kept running, getting as far away as possible.

They ran a few blocks making it to the highway before they stopped to catch their breaths. That was fucking close, neither of them knew what they were going to do to them but it's better if they don't find out. Clementine set her backpack down on a nearby car, double checking she had everything as well as putting the frying pan back in. She still had the map which was the most important thing. Clementine breathed out a sigh in relief before she pulled out the map to determine where they were.

She looked up at David. If she was alone, those bastards wouldn't have caught her. But if they did, she didn't know if she would have made it out without David. It was their fighting that got them caught. The back of her head was nagging at her after he kicked that bastard before he could hit her, how he asked if she was okay, it was as if he cared. Maybe…

"You really do care about AJ, don't you?" She asked calmly.

David looked at her and nodded.

Clementine closed her eyes and put the map away. She zipped the backpack up and put it back on her shoulders.

"I'm done fighting."

David heard the sincerness in her voice. He was sick of it, too.

"I still don't forgive you for what you did, and I don't know if I can, but if we want to find AJ we can't keep doing this. So…" she held her hand out to him. "Truce?"

The fact that she hasn't forgiven him yet and might not ever hurt, but she's trying to make amends with him. It was a start, and maybe this will help both of them. Again, they were doing this for AJ, they needed to work together. David smiled and shook her hand.

"Truce."

Clementine smiled lightly. They were on neutral terms now. AJ is their main priority now, which reminded her.

"You still don't get to see the map." She said as she began to walk again.

"Come on." David caught up to her.

"I don't want to get lost."

"Clem."

"Still no."

The sun was high in the day and they hope to gain the distance they lost from being captured. They had a long week ahead of them, but at least now it won't be as shitty between them.

* * *

 **A/N: This is the end of chapter 2! I guess you could consider this story of my take on what would be an interesting season 4. And to clarify Clem's story: Clem shot Kenny, left Jane (Alone Ending), and decided to go with Javi no matter what he chose. Javi chose to go after David and Gabe, Clem went with him. David came back to Richmond, Kate's dead. The only difference to the story is the conversation between Clem and David in the last chapter. I'm not the biggest fan of David, but that'll be a fun challenge for me to write about him and Clementine. Also, Clem is my daughter and I'm so proud of her! Anyway,** **I hope you enjoyed the story so far, please let me know what you think. I'll do my best to alternate between this story and IJH. So until next time, bye loves!**


	3. Dominoes

**A/N: Welcome back to Mending. I appreciate that y'all like the idea, I like writing it! With that said, I hope you enjoy this story!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own the Walking Dead: New Frontier.**

Mending

Daisyfan5534

Chapter 3

* * *

Clementine and David left the town where they were held at. Those two assholes were dead, and if not then they would be soon to their bites. They didn't have much to talk about, the truce they made wasn't more than an hour ago. Clementine was completely focused on where they were going, David was focused on keeping her safe, and sneaking a peek at the map every chance he got, which wasn't many. Just based on the continued silence between them, it wasn't that bad, especially now that they weren't at each other's throats anymore. Everything seemed like it would be okay.

David's been checking every car that looks drivable so they had a faster mode of transportation, but he'd always come up empty. Whether it be no tires, no battery, or completely trashed, them finding a car was a shot in the dark. It annoyed Clementine slightly how they'd always have to stop, but she stopped calling him out about it after the third car. To be honest, she hated that they had to walk all the way there.

Clementine hated traveling, especially long distances on her own feet. Her feet would ache, it's why she wanted to find a car before she left. Not only to get as far away from here as possible but so she didn't have to walk. As long as she gets to AJ, she didn't care how long it takes or if she couldn't feel her feet afterward.

"I could have sworn that Javi mentioned a deal you had with him, something about a car?" David asked.

"Yeah, he did, when we first met and I saved him, I said I'd take him back to his family in exchange for his van, but I think Badger and his friends destroyed it. I was going to take your truck, but it got lost in the herd." Clementine explained.

"Would've been useful."

"Tell me about it."

Honestly, Clementine wasn't that bad of a travel partner. David expected more complaining about how far AJ was, but she was quiet. She's always been quiet, but now she'll at least have a conversation with him. The bitterness dropped from her voice whenever he talked to her and it wasn't laced with venom anymore, she was a good kid.

The two walked on the road with the faded yellow line dividing them. The sun was high, no fall breeze yet it was slightly chilly. Their conversations were minimal as they walked alongside each other, since being chatty risked them not hearing a walker. They eventually made it to another town, one with tall buildings, all abandoned and towering over them, narrow alleyways leading to other streets, each one full of shadows and trash. It was so... haunting... and most cities are like this. Nothing but trashed buildings and empty streets, all without life.

As they both came to a four-way stop, they both froze at a noise. Clementine and David looked at each other before they pulled out their weapons. They peered down the street to their right to see a herd of walkers roaming in place. They were extra cautious as they lightly stepped across the four-way stop, keeping their eye on the herd to make sure they weren't noticed. The two of them made it to the middle of the street before they stopped again from hearing the same noise from behind. They saw another herd down the other street, except it's walking towards them. Clementine whipped her head around to the first herd and saw their attention drawn to them. She and David were caught in the middle.

"Run?" David suggested.

"Run." Clementine agreed as they both booked it up the street.

More and more walkers came pouring out of the alleyways, even from the alleys ahead of them, it was like someone rang the dinner bell for walkers. If they didn't act fast, they'd be surrounded. Clementine knew they didn't have enough time to get covered in guts.

David focused on an office building on the street corner. "Inside!" he exclaimed as he tugged on her arm once before he ran for it with Clementine right behind him.

Once in the building, they started barricading the door. After the front door was piled with stuff, they took a few steps backward, making sure there weren't any weak points and bracing themselves for if the walkers get through the barricade. The building was silent, their tired huffs were the only things they could hear.

"Shit!"

Clementine looked at David, watching him fling a walker over his shoulder and slamming its body on the ground, stomping his foot on it afterward to kill it.

"Did it-?" she asked.

"No, I'm fine." He responded.

Their conversation was cut short thanks to the growls of walkers coming out of the shadows of the building. Too many of them to kill without a gun, and they didn't want to alert the walkers outside that they were in here, even though they already started banging on the door. They had to act!

"We got to go!" Clementine said as she began climbing the stairs, David on her tail.

Every floor they stopped on had walkers, figures that the one building they pick to hole up in is infested. Each time they go up a floor, they get more walkers following them, they had nowhere to go but up.

"Fuck!" Clementine tried pushing on the door to the roof, the handle worked but it wouldn't open. "The door's jammed!"

"What?!" David looked over his shoulder to see the walkers slowly making their way up the stairs to them. He turned back around and put his weight on the door. "Come on, on three." Clementine put her weight on the door and pressed down on the handle then David began counting. "One, two, three!"

Their rammed weight against the door was enough to get it open. The two of them stumbled onto the roof and slammed the door shut behind them. Walkers would start clawing at the door until it gave way, the fire escape led down to a herd of walkers, they were trapped.

"Luke, don't fail me now."

David turned to Clem after hearing her voice and she began to take a couple steps back as if she was preparing herself. He looked to the edge of the roof, realizing how tall the building was… she wouldn't. Then again their ammo was limited and they were about to get hounded with walkers, if he had a choice he wouldn't want to become a walker either, and neither did she. She began to run to the edge.

"Clem!"

She jumped. David ran to the roof edge to see Clementine land on the roof of an apartment building next to them. He relaxed, seeing that she was okay. She stood up, her knees, hands, and arms slightly scraped then she looked back at him. The look in her eyes said everything; he had to jump. He didn't have a choice. David took a few steps back and just as the door flew open and walkers began to pour onto the roof. He ran towards the edge and jumped over to the other building. He landed feet first until they gave out on him and he tumbled onto his back, scooting away from the edge as Clementine came to his side.

David huffed out a laugh, the adrenaline from the jump had not worn off yet. "Fucking hell!" This kid was going to cut his life in half with stunts like this. "A warning would have been nice."

Clementine helped him up before jerking her head to the previous building. "Better than being them."

He looked back to the rooftop they were formally on, watching the walkers get closer and closer to the edge until they fell off. The fall was enough to kill them. Clementine began to wander around the roof.

"Doesn't change the fact we're still trapped on a roof." David mentioned. He looked over the edge of the building, it was a long way down, and the herd surrounded the building.

"I found a fire escape." Clementine said. "Herd doesn't help though."

"Might as well look inside." David suggested.

"As long as we're quiet."

The last thing they need is to be forced up to the roof by walkers again. The next building over wasn't jumpable. Clementine took the lead as she opened the door and crept down the steps. She pressed her ear on the door to the top floor and listened. Nothing. Clem glanced at David behind him then she turned the doorknob slowly and opened the door, to the surprisingly open space. It was a living room with an open kitchen, a few doors to the side, an elevator, and a floor-to-ceiling glass window as one of the walls of the apartment. Clementine has never seen anything like it. She and David split up to search the other rooms, only finding a bedroom and a bathroom, an elevator, no stairs that lead to any of the floors below, and more importantly no walkers. They were safe for now.

Clementine walked to the huge window and looked down. "The herd's surrounding the building."

"They can't get to us, at least." David said as he began rummaging through the cabinets of the kitchen.

"We're still stuck though." Clementine sighed. "We'll wait for them to pass then we'll keep going."

"Guess we're going to be here for a while then."

It's not ideal, Clementine wished they could keep going, but with that herd down there it was too risky. While they could cover themselves in guts, they'd still have to get a walker from the fire escape a story up; neither of them wants to reach their hands down into a pool of walkers to grab one. They had no choice but to sit here and wait.

Clementine walked over to where David was and sat down on a bar stool. Her backpack slid off her shoulders and she set it on the hardwood floor. Her fingers tapped on the counter and she rested her head in her other hand, she never liked waiting when she was little, and she still hated it now.

"Ha."

Clementine glanced over at David coming around the counter and taking a seat next to her. He set a glass down and began pouring a transparent orange liquid into the glass.

Her head lifted from her hand. "What are you doing?"

"In a place like this, there's no doubt in my mind there would be something here."

"What do you mean?"

"It's a bachelor pad, a fucking nice one at that. I always dreamed of living in a place like this."

"A bachelor pad?"

David glanced at Clementine, she looked confused. "A bachelor is a single guy, and if he was pretty with money, he'd live in a place like this. Have parties, bring girls home every other night for…" his voice trailed off, remembering that Clem was a bit young for that. "It's just a nice place, nice places have nice drinks."

He took a sip of the drink in his hand, grunting at the bitter taste, he expected it to be stronger, but it was still good. "Tequila. Good shit."

Clementine looked back at the large window. She should be on her way to McCarroll ranch, she should be getting closer to AJ. The longer she waited the more anxious she got, and the faint sound of the herd outside didn't make it any better.

David took notice of Clementine's impatience. "Hey, relax. They'll be gone soon enough." He looked down at the glass in his hand then he extended it out to her. "Here, hell knows you need this, too."

Clementine hesitated before she took the glass in her hands. Her eyes shifted to David then back at the drink then she closed her eyes and took a sip. The moment it went down her throat she coughed at the taste, getting a small laugh out of David. Clem handed the glass back to him as she wiped her mouth.

"Fucking hell." Out of all her sips of alcohol, that one was the worst. "My throat burns."

"You get used to it."

Clementine sighed as she got up making her way back to the window. She again looked down only to see the walkers still roaming around the building, she couldn't tell if they were moving along.

"It's going to be a while before they leave. Might as well make yourself comfortable." David called out.

She huffed then made her way over to some shelves near the biggest tv she's ever seen. She's gotten used to ignoring them, the tvs and the sadness of missing morning cartoons, they didn't serve any purpose now. The shelves by the tv didn't have much, some good sized books, little trinkets, and a few games. A metal tin caught her eye, she stood on her tiptoes and pulled it off the higher shelf before walking over to a glass coffee table. Clementine sat down on the couch and opened the metal tin and dumped out dominoes onto the table.

She loved playing with them in school, they were so colorful and she liked lining them up and knocking them down. Clementine stood them upright in a row then began to curve the line towards her. Just as she was about to place her last domino, they all fell. As much as she loved the look and sound that they make when they fall on top of each other, she saw the hand in her peripheral vision.

"Asshole." she said, glaring at him in annoyance.

"At least we won't be so bored." David said back as he sat down on the other side of the table. "Have you played dominoes before?"

"Back when I was in school when we had free time." Clementine responded as she began to stand them up again.

"I meant the game." David clarified.

"There's a game?"

"Yes, there's a game, what were you using them in school for?"

"... Adding."

A painful reminder that she was young when everything started. The harsh reality that she didn't get a proper education. Clementine held herself and AJ up in a school for about a month, she wanted to finish her first-grade education at least, besides she wanted to be able to teach it to AJ eventually. He loved it when she read to him and he liked to fall asleep listening to her count. The classroom was a great place to live in too, AJ had toys to play with and it would keep him occupied while she learned. She hadn't stepped into a school since then, she missed AJ too much. Clementine has tried to learn in the libraries and bookstores, but it only helped with her reading and that made her miss reading to him.

"I promise there's no adding in this game." David said as he turned all the dominoes face down on the table and shuffled them around. "To start you take seven of them."

Clementine followed David's lead as he picked seven and hold them in his hand. He moved the remaining dominoes to the side then placed down a domino from his hand with six dots both sides. "A domino with both sides that are the same are called doubles, whoever has the highest double goes first. The goal is to get rid of all your dominoes."

"So it's my turn, right?"

"Yeah, just put down a domino with a six on it."

"Okay…" Clem placed her domino down, connecting it with the first one. "But what happens if I can't play anything?"

"Then you have to draw another domino."

The game didn't take long. Clementine was doing her best to get the hang of it, it wasn't that hard. In the end, David won.

"I forgot to mention that I'm the best in my family at dominoes." David said.

"That so?" Clementine asked.

"Kicked Javi's ass at it all the time." He began to reset the game and he saw Clem's gaze move back to the window. "You said you're from Georgia, right?"

Clementine turned his head back to him and nodded. "Yeah."

"What city?"

"Atlanta. Gabe said that you guys were from Maryland?"

"Yeah, Baltimore. Not as far from here as Atlanta, but still a long ways from home."

Clementine and David reached into the pile and each picked up seven dominoes to start a new game. Clem had the highest double so she went first.

"You know, I don't know anything about you." David said.

"And?"

"Well, if we're being honest, I'd rather know more about the person I'm going to be traveling with for, you said a week? Then add another week to get back to Richmond."

Clementine nodded in understanding. She completely forgot about the trip back. It was going to be another week-long journey.

"So, where were you when it all started?"

"My parents went on vacation to Savannah for something, I don't remember what, and they left me at home with a babysitter. And that was the last time I saw them… alive. When it started my babysitter got bit and she told me to go hide in my treehouse. That's basically it." Clementine sighed, she didn't want to talk to him about Lee, finding her parents as walkers or anything in between.

"Not a lot of kids can handle being on their own, be glad that you were." David said to her. "Your turn. Ask me anything you want."

"What happened to your first wife? If you don't mind me asking."

David paused for a moment. "My first wife left me. It was only a few years after Marianna was born and she just left, said she couldn't do it anymore. And I haven't heard from her since."

"I'm sorry." Clem didn't know what else to say.

"Javi was with me that day. It was hard to tell my kids. Gabe always thought she'd come back, which made it harder for him to accept Kate."

When Nathan mentioned his wife, he was at a loss for words. David didn't like to talk about Isabella, he and Javi caught her on her way out, she left divorce papers on the table and a note, explaining why she left. It was bullshit. She didn't even try to talk to him about it, she just fucking abandoned him with their two kids.

David placed a domino down. "It was rough. Anyway, uh…" he hasn't talked about her since she left. "You have a scar on your arm, don't you? How'd you get it?"

"I was eleven and I got lost from the woman I was with. We got attacked, I'm pretty sure she's dead…" that gunshot in the woods was enough for her. "Anyway, I found this dog and an old campsite. Somehow I found a can of beans and I tried to share with the dog, but it tried to eat it all and when I took the can away, it bit me." Clementine played her last domino.

"Ah, shit." David sighed in defeat. "Beginner's luck. Can I see the bite?"

Clementine was surprised at the request, but rolled up her sleeve and held out her arm anyway to show him.

David lightly took a hold of her arm and turned it to look at the scar better. "Damn, that must have hurt."

"Compared to stitching it myself? Doing that hurt more than the bite."

"You did the patch job yourself? Well, that explains how jagged it is." David said. "One of the guys in my troop had a bullet graze his mid stomach, all the way across. The scar made his chest look like a giant smile."

She huffed out a laugh. She could picture it. Then she quickly cleared her throat. "But yeah. It was a dog bite."

Clementine and David reset the game before continuing. They drew their dominoes and David started the new game.

"Well, your turn to ask." he said.

Clementine thought for a moment wondering what she should ask, the only thing that came to mind was something that stuck with her for a couple days. "What does _'mija'_ mean?"

David paused and looked at her.

"I overheard you a bit a couple days ago. Not all of it, just… Sorry, I shouldn't have asked."

"No… It's fine, Clem." David sighed as he let his grief for Marianna pass. "Mija; it's short for 'mi hija.' It means 'my daughter.' Mija is just another name you'd call your daughter."

"Is there one for a son? Like what would you call Gabe?"

"For Gabe, it'd be mijo, short for mi hijo." David explained.

"So I could call AJ mijo?" Clementine asked.

"You could. If you're interested, Javi and I could teach you some Spanish when we get back to Richmond."

Clementine gave the offer some thought before she spoke. "I'd like that."

She was honest in her voice, she meant it. David was relieved at her response, she was trying to move forward. It wasn't a huge indication of it, but she's getting along with him. This was all he could ask for.

"Speaking of AJ, how did you end up with him?" David asked.

"After I got bit by the dog, a couple people found me and took me back to their group. There was a husband and wife there, and she was pregnant with AJ." Meeting everyone from the cabin felt so long ago. "The group got bigger and smaller. AJ's dad died before he was born. His name was Alvin, so we named the baby Alvin Junior which is where AJ comes from. Then his mom died a few days after she gave birth. And one by one everyone in the group died or left until it was just me and AJ."

He couldn't imagine what kind of thing she's seen. David only asked about AJ, but she's not saying anything about her old group. In fact, this was the first time she's even mentioned _a_ group. Whatever her experience was in her old group would explain why she was so reluctant in joining New Frontier in the first place. They were good at persuading her to join.

"It must have been rough."

"It was."

Clementine's blunt about everything. She's not afraid to speak her mind. It was good to have, at least David thought it was. The look on her face saddened as she got lost in thought. All this talk about AJ made her miss him, and she's sitting here playing a game while he's out there somewhere. Clem looked over to the window, and through the silence between her and David, she could hear the walkers outside.

"We'll get him back." David said to her. It didn't take him long to figure out why her body language change.

She sighed before returning to the game. And soon enough she won again.

"Glad to see you get the hang of this." David muttered in defeat.

"It's pretty easy, thought you said you were good at this?" Clementine said flatly though David could have sworn that her tone was almost teasing.

* * *

The setting sun casts a yellow light in the loft. David came down from the roof after relieving himself. He and Clem have been stuck there all day, spending a lot of it playing dominoes, so much so that they lost track of who had the most wins. The herd was still surrounding the building, it hasn't left yet, which irritated Clementine. It's mainly why she stopped playing.

David glanced over to her at the bar, sitting on a stool with her head resting on her hand, looking down at the map. She's been sitting there for the past hour since they stopped playing. He didn't want to bother her, it wasn't the best idea to add to her irritation. David walked back over to the table and put the dominoes away. Just as he placed the lid on he heard a light thud. He turned to the noise only to see that Clementine's arm has given out from having her head rest on it. She fell asleep, that's why she was so quiet, well quieter than usual. David glanced at an ajar bedroom door then made his way over to Clem.

She was out like a light. Most likely she stressed herself out so much she fell asleep from exhaustion. Clementine was slumped over the counter, her head resting on her arm, she actually looked like a sleeping kid. David lightly rested his hand on her far side and gently pulled her towards him so her head rested against him. He then secured his arm behind her back and his other arm went under her legs and he lifted her up off the chair. He adjusted her in his arms to get a better grip on her before he carried the sleeping girl to the bedroom. David set her down on the big bed and pulled the covers over her. She needed rest, and a lot of it, and being slumped in a chair wouldn't be comfortable for long.

He left the room and his eyes landed on the counter where she was working and he couldn't help himself. The map was there and she couldn't stop him from looking. Clementine has circled a few places: Richmond, Prescott, and where they were now. However AJ's location wasn't marked anywhere, she's just been tracking their travels.

David sighed in defeat then it turned into a yawn. He should get some rest, too. He laid down on the couch facing the bar since facing the window would have a setting sun in his eye. David stared at the orange lighting in the room, soaking in the relaxed vibe then he closed his eyes. It was a good day. Despite being trapped in a building, they made the best of it. The truce from earlier that day really made a difference. Without it, they would have probably killed each other by now. David didn't have any issue with Clementine, she was very smart, dedicated, and turns out the kid actually has a personality that wasn't just quiet and closed off, he felt lucky to even find that out through their game of dominoes. She has opened up to him a bit, and he's glad she did, but Clem's voice from their truce rang in his head again, how she might not be able to forgive him. At least today was a step in the right direction for them, but it was going to take more than games and storytelling for her to do so. He didn't care how long it would take, but as of now, he was more worried about keeping Clementine safe so they could both get AJ back.

"Shit."

David opened his eyes at the voice, the room was dark now, the only light that came from outside was from the moon and it gave the room a calming, blue hue. He rubbed the sleep from his eyes and sat up as he turned towards the window. It was night, he could see the moonlight brighten up the room a bit, and he saw a small figure standing by the window. Clem.

He pulled himself to his feet and walked over to her, looking down at the street with her.

"They're just… roaming." She said.

The walkers weren't moving along like they hoped. They just stayed there surrounding the building.

"It's dark, it'd be easier for us to slip past them." David pointed out.

Clementine sighed. "It's… risky, but we would be more hidden in the dark." She bit her inner cheek. "I just want to get out of here."

She turned away from the window and began packing the map in her backpack along with some other stuff she found. David followed suit, finding a backpack for himself in the other room. He felt bad that she had to carry everything and he was relieved that Clementine agreed to split her stuff. David grabbed the dominoes on their way out the door, but set them back down on the counter after hearing them bang against the metal tin. It would draw too much attention to them if they packed it. He didn't want to leave the game, but survival comes first.

He followed Clementine to the roof, and they could both hear and smell the herd below them. She stood by the fire escape and pulled out the map, muttering to herself about not having a flashlight.

"What's the plan?" David asked.

She looked up at the buildings in the distance and studied them for a moment then pointed.

"Do you see the water tower by the highway?"

"Yeah." It was hard to see because it was dark but it was there. And it was far from where they were.

"We need to go there, it should be far enough from the herd to figure out where to go from there."

"You sure?"

"That way is closer to AJ, regardless. And hopefully, by the time we get there, there will be more light to see if which way to go next."

David looked down at his watch. "It's almost two, the sun won't be up by the time we get there." He glanced down at the walker-filled alley. "But at least it's further from them."

Clementine folded the map up and put it away. "Let's go then."

They both began walking down the fire escape getting as close as they could to the alley below. All they needed was to climb down the ladder and they were back on the ground. The only problem was the walkers aimlessly roaming the alley below them.

"Any ideas how to get down undetected?" David asked.

"I'm thinking." She whispered back.

"What about that trick you said back in Richmond with the guts?"

"Do you want to reach your hand down there and grab one?"

David thought for a moment, he then set his backpack down and began to dig through it. "Holy shit."

Why didn't he look through the bag before he grabbed it? Not that it mattered, he pulled out a red tube with a fuse.

"Is that a firework?" Clem asked.

"It's a flare." He corrected. "It'll do the trick. You have a lighter?"

Clementine gave it to him, not sure what he was doing. She had no clue what a flare was. David lit the fuse then threw it towards the street. Soon enough a bright red light went off, immediately drawing the attention of the walkers in the alley. It took a while, but eventually, all the walkers have turned away from them, heading towards the light like moths.

"I'll admit, I'm impressed." Clementine said before she began climbing down the ladder to the cleared alley. Once David got down they both ran out of the other side of the alley and up the street, getting as far away from the herd as possible.

It's not even dawn and yet it's a new day.

* * *

 **A/N: Eh, it's a bit shorter than the other two, but I promise the next one would be longer. I hope you enjoyed, and I'll try to update as soon as I can.**


	4. The Talk

**And I'm back! Did you miss me? IJH Chapter 18 is almost done and I'm also writing a one-shot that might be released soon. In the meantime, please enjoy this chapter of Mending. Fair warning: there's an _awkward_ conversation at the end of the chapter. And by awkward... I mean kinda cringy. I did my best with that scene despite the awkwardness, so enjoy. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Walking Dead Game.**

Mending

Daisyfan5534

Chapter 4

* * *

" _God, you're such a cocky ass."_

" _Hey, not my fault girls like me."_

" _All I ask is a night with my baby brother."_

 _David and Javier got together after a long time of not seeing each other. David was busy with work and his family while Javier was busy with baseball. They finally got to catch up, crack jokes, and drink. However, as it got later in the evening some girls walked in and recognized Javi._

" _We got free drinks, didn't we?" Javier pointed out.  
_

" _I'd appreciate having my marriage be respected." David added.  
_

 _One of them tried to hit on David, despite his visible wedding ring and him saying no to her advances. Javi eventually called it a night after noticing his brother getting slightly uncomfortable with the girl and now they were walking home. They weren't completely drunk, but they didn't want to drive home.  
_

" _Is it alright if I crash at your place? I kind of want to see my niece and nephew in the morning." Javi asked.  
_

" _They'll be glad to see you." David said.  
_

" _How is Izzie, by the way?"_

" _She's great and she'll kill you if she hears you call her Izzie."_

" _She'll get over it."_

 _They turn the corner to David's street and as they near his house, they notice a cab pull up at outside his home._

" _Well, are you going to cancel your ride?" David asked._

" _I didn't call a cab." Javi told him._

" _Maybe it's a wrong address."_

 _The two ignored the cab as they walked up the steps. As David pulled out his keys, the door opened in front of him. His wife was standing inside with the door in one hand and a suitcase in the other._

" _David?!" She said in shock. "I thought you weren't coming back until later."_

" _The night got cut short." David explained, but he could tell that something was off from the tone of her voice. That was when he noticed the suitcase in her hand and then he thought about the cab outside their house. "What are you-"_

" _I-I'm sorry." His wife cut him off. "I just can't do it anymore."_

" _Isabelle."_

 _She rushed out the door and past him and his brother. David could see some stuff on the table as Javier went after Isabella. He was confused as he walked to the table to see his wife's ring, divorce papers, and a note. As he skimmed the note, David could hear his brother trying to talk to Isabella with her not saying a word. No… no way this was happening!_

 _He slammed the note down on the table and hurried outside just as the cab door close, Javi still attempting to talk to her._

" _Isabella!"_

 _The cab drove off with his wife… ex-wife. Everything just happened so fast and he didn't know how to process it._

" _What the hell were you doing?!" David shoved his brother._

" _Hey, calm down!" Javier told him.  
_

" _Why didn't you stop her?" He gave him another shove.  
_

" _I did everything I could," Javi shoved him back. "She wouldn't talk to me. I brought up you, her family, her kids, but she…"_

 _God, their kids. Gabe, Mariana, how was he supposed to tell them? David went back inside, reading the note that was left. Javi came in and went to his niece and nephew's shared room to make sure they were asleep then went back to comfort his brother. He could believe what he was reading; "I can't do this anymore," "I need to get out of this," "I don't love our children like I used to," "I still love you, but I want something else."_

" _I don't understand how she could just…" David didn't know what to think._

" _Was there any sign of this?" His brother asked._

" _No."_

" _Are you sure?"_

" _Yes! She was fine, nothing was wrong, we had the occasional fight or two, but... I thought she was happy." David pulled out a chair and sat down. He read over the note again before crumpling it up and throwing it across the room._

" _This is bullshit!" His hands rubbed his face._

 _He could hear his brother leave the room momentarily, then he heard the note he threw unraveled, and lastly the sound of metal hitting the table. David looked up from his hands to see a beer can in front of him. Javi had one in his hand as well as the note that was left._

 _He took the can in his hand and opened it to down the beer. After he drank half the can he set it down, he didn't know what to do._

" _Look, I can take Mari and Gabe tomorrow and let you sort this out, then we can tell them." Javier said to him._

" _Thank you."_

" _If you need anything, I can-"_

" _No." He interrupted. "I need to do this._

" _David."_

" _Javi, I know you mean well, but I have to do this. Just give them a nice day tomorrow."_

" _I will."_

 _David got up and went to the kitchen. He opened a drawer and dug around in it then pulled out a small piece of paper._

" _What are you doing?" Javi asked._

" _Ran into a sitter looking for work. I'm going to need one."_

" _Wow, thanks David."_

" _I need one who's available during the day while I'm at work. Your season starts soon anyway." David picked up the home phone._

" _It's late, call the sitter tomorrow." Javi said. "Get some rest, alright."_

 _David sighed as he went back over to the table and picked up his beer. He finished the can then squeezed the empty sides together. Tomorrow was going to be hard, but finding a way to tell his kids that their mom left was going to be harder._

* * *

He still remembered the look on Gabe's face when he told him. While Marianna was there too, she was only two, almost three; it was easier to explain it to her. Gabe was confused, he wanted her to come back, he wanted his dad to go find her and bring her back. It wasn't like David didn't want to do that either, if he knew where his wife went when she left, he would have gone to find her and confront her on why, but he had no idea. His ex-wife was dead to him, hell if she died then that would have been easier to explain. And now, who the hell knows where she is.

"Garcia!"

David turned his head to Clementine, who was covered in walker guts just like he was. After they both ran to the water tower, Clementine tried to figure out which way to go. As she did that David was scavenging what was around the area. He found and killed a walker, and right after he saw another herd coming towards them. Unfortunately, according to Clem, that was the way they needed to go. She immediately went to the walker he killed and began cutting it open and he knew what they were going to have to do. David didn't want to do it, but he didn't have a choice.

Another walker popped out from the dark around the tower and Clementine went behind it and used her knife to yank its jaw out the walker mouth. She held the walker in front of her and jerked her head at David to silently tell him to follow. She told him to act like he belonged, and he will belong, it was all she could say before the herd was on them. He was absolutely terrified as Clementine guided him through the small herd using a toothless walker as a shield, nothing could prepare him for this kind of fear… or smell, but he managed to stay calm as they walked through. Clementine, however, was relatively calm as she slowly walked and guided him through with confidence and he could think about was how many times she had done this before.

Once they got out of the herd, she kicked the walker to the concrete and stabbed its head to kill it. And not a second later she kept on walking as the sun began to rise. It probably about eight or nine right now and the smell of rotten guts was still there.

"Is everything okay?" Clementine asked. She was slightly ahead of him, he must have slowed down.

"Yeah…" he said as he wiped his face of the guts. They were kind of crusted on. He and Clem continued walking down the road, and he had to ask. "How are you able to do that?"

"Do what?" She asked as they continued walking.

"Walk through a herd covered head-to-toe in guts. How the hell did you even figure that trick out?"

Clementine's pace slowed and she looked down at her feet. Her eyes closed as she sighed.

"Look, you don't have to-"

"It's fine…"

"Clem."

"I'm fine…" she lifted her head, trying to find a way to word her answer. "I knew a man who walked through an entire heard with nothing but a meat cleaver. He was covered in guts by the time he got out. The two of us came across a single walker and it went after me and not him, despite him being right in front of the walker. It didn't take long to put two and two together."

"Do you do it often?"

"Only when I have to. I got used to the feeling of covering myself, but the smell…" she cringed at the scent.

"Is that why you made Javi do it?" David asked.

"Yeah, he was lucky it started raining soon after."

"Lucky bastard."

"I think there's a pond or lake somewhere up ahead. We can wash off there. Bathe if we want."

"Is that what you want to do?"

"... Kind of."

"You're in charge here." To be honest, a bath sounds nice. It would be good to be able to wash up. Especially after smearing himself in guts.

Clementine pulled out the map and all they had to do was keep walking straight and it should be on their right. Soon enough, they found a big lake just a ways off the side of the highway surrounded by a forest, and it looked ever so nice. David let Clementine go first. It was only fair since she got them both out of that city. He turned his back to the lake to keep watch and to give her some privacy. He heard her clothes shuffling and the sound of her getting into the water.

"Fuck!" she exclaimed.

"What?" he asked.

"Nothing, it's just cold!"

Water was a good thing and he's been lucky to not die of dehydration, but he would kill a hundred walkers if it meant he could have warm water. David stood there and kept himself fixated on the road at a distance in front of him to keep watch as he waited for Clementine to finish. He could hear the water trickle and splash from behind, it sounded refreshing. Honestly, he wouldn't blame the kid if she was in there all day. Then there was a pause in the water, he didn't hear any movement, not even a drop. It was a quiet moment, and he noticed it. It lasted for ten long seconds, then the movement continued and it was more rushed then before.

"Don't turn around yet." She said quickly as she got out of the water.

David waited for her to get dressed so he can get a turn. She appeared beside him rubbing her arms in an attempt to warm up.

She looked up at him. "You stink."

David scoffed at the statement.

"I'll keep watch." Clementine took a step forward and sat down on the ground, facing away from the lake.

Finally, his turn. David stripped down then got in the water, holding back a shiver. Clem wasn't kidding when she said it was cold. Cold, but nice. He scrubbed the smell off his body and the large guts off his clothes before they stained, and before he knew it, he was done and clean. David got out of the water, wiping it off his skin to dry off then he got dressed. Once he was clothed, he walked beside Clementine to let her know that he was done. She didn't notice him, she was focused on her hands in her lap and playing with her stub finger. She seemed lost in thought.

He cleared his throat and that got her attention. She looked up at him and he extended his hand out to her. Clementine accepted the hand and David helped her to her feet then the two continued down the road. He caught Clementine glancing back at the lake for a moment as they walked away.

"Think we'll get far today?" David asked.

"Hopefully, I just want to make up for the time we spent in the apartment." Clementine said. Her voice sounded slightly off, but he brushed it off.

If they knew that the walkers weren't going to move along, they probably would have found a way to leave earlier. As nice as it was to get to know each other a bit more, they had to get to AJ. It's only three days in, and they were already done with the trip. If only they had a car.

There wasn't much to talk about, especially since they only tolerate each other. Clementine still would go alone if she had a choice, but she couldn't get rid of David. David hated how they had to walk in silence. He knew that she preferred it, but one of the reasons he was going was so they could get along by the time they get back to Richmond. They both didn't want AJ to be upset about them not getting along. She can think what she wanted, but he is sorry, and as long as she knew that, they can work from there.

The day went on as normal, Clem was quiet, David was walking by her side, and it was… nice. Just the fact that they had someone and that they weren't alone. Clementine pulled out the map and studied it for a moment. David looked over her shoulder and she didn't jerk her body away like last time, instead she brought her body closer together and the map partly folded with her. There wasn't even a glare from her. Not that David was complaining but, she didn't even look at him. He got this weird feeling that something was wrong. Her body language is coming off shyer rather than the usual attitude of confident and closed off.

Clementine gave one last look at the map then tucked it away and continued forward as she stuffed her hands into her pockets. A walker stumbled out of the woods and it caught their attention. David walked over to it and kicked its knee out so it fell to the ground then he stomped on its decayed skull to kill it. He turned back to Clementine who was waiting for him. Her expression seemed a bit sad, it's one he's never seen before. David made his way back over to her and they both continued down the road. He looked up to the sky, seeing some light clouds and he figured that's a good of an excuse as any.

"It's a nice day." he said aloud.

"I guess it could be worse." Clementine responded. Same as the last time she spoke; he could hear it in her voice, something's bugging her.

"At least it's not raining." David pointed out.

"Yeah…"

"You don't sound too enthusiastic about it." He said, leaving any hint of worry out of his voice. He didn't want her to know he was concerned, fearing she might not talk about what's bugging her.

"I don't know… I guess I'm just tired." she said as she pulled her hands out of her pockets so she could hold her stub finger.

They've been up since around three in the morning, well, he was; he had no clue when Clem woke up after he put her in the bed. Should be around ten now, so that's about eight hours they've been awake, maybe more for her if she had woken up before he did. It's a possibility that she's tired, but even then they both got a good sleep. Clementine seemed pretty well rested especially after running from a herd and calmly walking through another. Maybe the talk from earlier about how she figured out how to walk through herds put her in a down mood? If she knew him well, then that would be a reason why her attitude has shifted.

She isn't shutting him down though for talking, which was a plus. He should continue the conversation. David saw how she played with her stub finger. Stubs nowadays are usually from cutting off limbs that have been bitten. Back when Clementine first joined New Frontier, he did a double take when he saw her hand for the first time. The ring finger on her left hand was mostly gone, it was only a knuckle long. No one asked her about her finger because it was assumed that it was bitten and she cut it off. Now's a good time to ask.

"What happened to your finger?"

Clementine used her thumb to feel the end of her stub. She remembered that day, it was so fucking painful.

"Back when it was just me and AJ, I was hunting for food. AJ wouldn't stay quiet so I set him down in an abandoned car. It wasn't going to be for long, just enough for me to kill something. I was about to kill a bunny, then walkers showed up. I killed two of them and I went to get AJ out of the car so we could get out of there, but another walker pushed the car door on me and it closed on my hand."

David cringed slightly. This definitely wasn't a walker biting her finger.

"After I killed the other walker, I opened the car door to get myself free and my pinkie finger was somewhat dislocated and by ring finger was broken, and I mean broken." Clementine used her other hand out to hold her ring finger and began using it to demonstrate how fucked her now gone finger was. "The top was bent backward and it was crooked, and this knuckle was bleeding." Clementine stuffed her hands back in her pockets. "I picked up AJ and ran until I found an old train car. I managed to calm him down from the walkers and I set him down for him to sleep so I could deal with my fingers. Getting my pinkie back in place was… the easy part. I mean, it hurt a lot but it was nothing compared to…"

David listened to her voice trail off to grunt of displeasure. He knew where this was going. "Did you try to fix it?"

"I didn't know how. I didn't know what I could do to fix it. The only thing I knew how to do was stitch and I had the stuff for it. So I stuffed a rag in my mouth and used my knife to-"

"I get it, you don't have to finish." David interrupted. He couldn't imagine cutting off his own finger, let alone a child doing it. She was alone, she felt like she had no choice but to cut off her finger. She didn't know what else she could do. "Was it hard to adjust to not having a finger?"

"Kind of. It still felt like it was there and I could feel myself moving it, even though it was gone. I'm just glad it wasn't my whole hand, or my thumb, or my pointer.

"Index." David corrected.

"What?"

"It's called your index finger."

"Why is it called that?" Clementine asked.

"I don't know."

There wasn't anything else to say really. Clementine wasn't the talkative type, David gathered that much from her. He hoped her opinion on him has improved over the past couple of days, he didn't want to ask otherwise it might make her think that he's only with her for himself rather than AJ. Despite her not being talkative, the journey with her wasn't bad so far, just quiet. He was trying to be acquaintances with her. Clementine, on the other hand, wasn't trying; at least to him it didn't feel like she was. She's focused on getting AJ back, that may be a reason why. Hopefully, once they find him, she'll lighten up and be a bit friendlier towards him.

* * *

By the time it was sunset, they both made some good distance. They walked through a couple towns, killed a few walkers, and didn't talk a lot. Since it was going to get dark soon, they found a house to stay in for the night. David volunteered to hunt for food for the both of them and Clementine gave him the go ahead. She wanted to figure out their next route for tomorrow. Despite her claim of being tired, she seemed awake all day, but somewhat out of it. Something was on her mind and he had no clue what it was. The only thing that came to mind was when he asked her about how she found out about the walker gut trick and she had to briefly explain the story of how with the person she knew. It must have been someone she cared deeply about.

 _BANG!_

David walked over to the now dead rabbit on the ground and picked it up by its ears. It should be enough for the both of them. He tucked his gun away and started his way back to the street they were staying on. Everything was calm, nothing looked out of the ordinary, which is good; he didn't want anything drastic to happen while he was gone. Just as the sun finished setting, he got back to the house he and Clem were holing up in for the night. David opened the door and locked it behind him as he went inside.

"Clem?"

The living room was empty, but there was a fire going in the fireplace. David walked through the room towards another door, leading him to a kitchen where he found Clementine with her elbows propped on the island in the middle of the room and her face in her hands looking down at the map on the counter. The look on her face was completely focused on something and she looked kind of upset and confused. She didn't even notice him walk in.

He set the rabbit on the counter then placed a hand on her shoulder. "Hey."

Clementine jumped at the touch and let out a small gasp. She looked up at David and calmed down.

"You okay?" David asked with caution.

She shrugged his hand off her shoulder and cleared her throat. "Y-yeah, just got lost in thought for a moment."

Clementine's been off for most of the day. From boldly walking through a herd with no fear, to being jumpy from David. He was about to open his mouth to say something, but Clementine noticed the rabbit on the counter.

"You caught a rabbit?" she asked. Changing the subject.

"Yeah, I-"

Clementine reached over and picked up the rabbit by its ears then pulled the frying pan out of her bag and left the room without another word. David stood there for a moment confused, then proceeded to follow her to the living room. She was sitting in front of the fireplace, trying to cut up the rabbit he caught so she could cook it, but she wasn't doing the best job. David sat beside her and she paused what she was doing as he did so.

"I have no doubt that you've cooked animals before, but I can show you how to properly do it. We're both going to be eating it after all." he said to her.

Clementine huffed then gestured her survival knife and rabbit in her hands towards him, wanting him to take it. Another reason why she didn't like hunting was because she had no clue if she was preparing the meat right. Instead of taking the things from her hand, David scooted closer and wrapped an arm around her so he could take a hold of her hands holding the objects. He felt her tense up at the hold, she wasn't used to anyone being this close unless she wanted them to be. Not to mention the fact that it was David of all people. David froze as well, he was mentally cursing himself at his actions, this was probably too much for her. Clementine relaxed her body; she knew there aren't any ill intentions here, it's just been so long since she's been held like this. She heard David's throat silently clear.

"What you're going to want to do is cut from the neck to the bottom." David said, using the knife to point where the line will be. After doing so, he backed off her a bit, leaving a hand on her far shoulder as reassurance that she could do it.

Clementine glanced at him, his hand sliding off, then she focused her attention back to the rabbit and proceeded with his instructions. Once the rabbit was cut open, she waited for David to tell her what to do next. This continued until the meat was ready to be cooked. Clem put the meat in the pan and moved forward put it over the fire so it could cook.

"Um… Thank you." she said to him.

"You're welcome." he said back to her.

It was a nice moment for them; a bit awkward at first, but they got to bond somewhat. David couldn't shake off the first thing he did when he began to teach her, how he took a hold of her hands, it's like how a parent would teach their child. It's how he'd teach his kids. Clementine felt the same way about the situation. His actions felt so parental. After not looking for his family and giving up AJ, she always thought of him as a shit parent, but he was still a parent nonetheless. When she had AJ, she felt like a parent and did everything she could to make him happy. Was she perfect? No, she remembered the sleepless nights she had when AJ was a baby and he wouldn't stop crying no matter what she did, and the days when she wished she didn't have to watch over AJ all the time so she could get stuff done, and the couple times she regretfully snapped at AJ because he was hungry, she was starving, and she couldn't feed him because they had no food. Clementine wasn't perfect, and while she had her issues with David and his parenting skills, he wasn't a perfect parent either. They were both imperfect parents doing their best to raise their kids in a hell world.

David couldn't stop thinking about his kids. When he saw Gabe outside the gates of Richmond he couldn't believe it was him. He grew up so much and he wasn't there to see it, and he never got to see his daughter who had grown up in this world. His own daughter… David glanced over at Clem who was fixated on the fire cooking their dinner. She's just a lost child with no family; a child who had to grow up so fucking fast without one in order to survive.

He looked around the house, wanting to do something to take his mind off his family. David stood up. "Did you search the house while I was gone?"

"No." Clementine told him.

"I'll do that then." David walked off down the hall of the house.

He found a flashlight in his backpack and used it to search the other rooms down the hall. There wasn't anything of intrest, just two bedrooms, a bathroom, and a storage closet with nothing useful inside. He went back into the living room passing Clementine who was curled into a ball in front of the fire and went to another door in the room. He opened it and found it to be a garage with a car in it! It looked intact, too!

David walked over to the front of the car and popped the hood to check the engine and it looked fine, the battery was there at least. He shined a light around the garage and found the keys on a workbench. David closed the trunk and grabbed the keys before heading back inside. He saw Clementine pull the cooked rabbit meat off the fire. She stood up and began to make her way to the kitchen.

"Is it ready?" David asked.

Clementine looked over at him in the doorway and nodded before walking into the kitchen. She soon came back out with a cutting knife, a couple forks, and two plates for the both of them. They sat down in front of the fire and they split the rabbit meat that was enough for one person.

"There's a car in the garage." David told her.

"A car? Does it work?" Clementine asked.

"I don't know, but it's in good shape so there's a good chance that it will."

That's nice to hear. If that car does work then they'll be able to get to AJ faster. They both could only hope so.

David and Clementine ate in silence; the rabbit was good and it was nice to have meat instead of possibly expired cans of food or granola bars. As he finished his plate, David noticed Clementine poking the meat on her half-eaten plate, and he couldn't let it go. She's been so off today; she's been more reclusive, she was jumpy earlier, now she's not eating. He may not know Clementine well, but he knew enough about kids to know that something is wrong.

"You did good with the rabbit." He started.

"Um… Thanks. I don't cook meat a lot, so I really wouldn't know." Clementine replied.

"Really?"

"Hunting was never my strong suit. I don't like using bullets on animals, anyway. It's kind of a waste, to me, at least."

"In that case, you should eat then."

The grip on her fork tightened in her hand.

"Clem, is everything okay?" he asked.

She didn't respond. Something is clearly wrong. But what if he is overlooking things? Or maybe his actions from earlier freaked her out.

"If I made you uncomfortable earlier, I didn't mean to."

"It's not that." She said. Clementine opened her mouth as to say something but she closed it like she's holding back.

"Listen, Clem, I… I know that we're not great friends, but-"

"AJ." She interrupted. It sounded like she just spat out his name, almost like it was an excuse. "He loved bunny rabbits." She explained.

David didn't say anything, trying to figure out if she was telling the truth or not. She missed AJ terribly, no doubt about it, but they only had the rabbit for an hour or two and Clementine's been off for most of the day. It could be it, but if he's being honest, he didn't truly believe her.

The fire shined a light on her face and he watched her smile. "He used to have a stuffed toy rabbit, it was his favorite thing. He would sleep with it all the time. It fell out of my bag when I was running from walkers, AJ was so upset. I ended up using shadow puppets to calm him down. He loved those."

The smile faded as she looked down at her plate. David realized that whatever was happening with her, he made it worse. At least he knew how to turn it around.

"Well, AJ will want you to be healthy, and I'm sure that finding him on a half empty stomach won't be good for either of you." David said to her.

Clementine looked at him, taking in what he said, then her eyes fell back down to her plate. She stabbed the meat with her fork and continued to eat. David felt like a weight had been lifted off him, a weight he didn't know was there in the first place. He was starting to notice this was a pattern; anything regarding Clementine and her health and well being, he was concerned about it. Back at that restaurant when she was being harassed, last night when he carried her to bed so she'd be more comfortable, and today he's been worried about her not eating along with her being completely off most of the day. He couldn't figure out why he was.

Honestly, David thought of her to be really headstrong, prideful, and confident. He began to admire that about her over the past couple days. She's got a hard shell to crack, that's for sure. As she's sitting right here next to him, there's something in the back of his head yelling at him that she's a just a child who fell far from grace. All his actions in response to her were natural, they felt natural, like a parent taking care of his kid. Like a father taking care of his…

His fists curled, holding in his emotions over his dead daughter. A huff escaped him as he stood up.

"I'm going to mess with the car and make sure it works."

He caught Clementine's nod as he left the room. He had to get his mind off of things, what better way to do so then to fix a car. David pulled the keys out of his pocket and opened the car door. He stuck the keys in the ignition and turned… Nothing. David got out of the car and popped the hood again, he wasn't going to give up on the chance that they could have a working car. It was dark in the garage though, the only light he had was from the fire in the other room, which wasn't much.

The sound of a button being pressed echoed in the room followed by a blinding light. David turned towards the source and the light shifted down and he was able to see Clementine standing in the doorway with the flashlight in her hand.

She walked over to him and handed him the flashlight before leaning herself up against the wall of the garage and stared down at her hands. David continued to mess with the engine, trying to figure out what's wrong. Every now and then he'd peer over at Clementine messing with her stub finger. There was this vibe in the room and it was something he couldn't ignore. Despite her explanation with missing AJ, it still felt like something was upsetting her. The mood was so depressing, it was making him depressed. He wanted to believe her reasoning, but he didn't, he couldn't shake that something else was wrong.

"Clem."

She looked up at him.

"Do you mind turning the keys for me?" he asked.

Clementine nodded and walked towards the car, getting in the front seat and doing what David asked. Again, nothing. Damn it.

"I'll get it working eventually." He told her.

David heard her get out of the car. Out of his peripheral vision, he could see Clementine walk towards him.

"I'm going to get some rest." Clementine said.

He paused what he was doing and looked at her. Her arms were now folded across her chest and she was avoiding eye contact. "You sure?" he asked.

"Yeah… just wake me when you need to." And like that she left the room before he could say anything else.

That was odd. Comparing that to their first night together in the woods where she made him sleep first without any argument, this was unlike her. It was just another thing to add to the list of things he's picked up from her today that he couldn't let go. It wasn't just one thing, it was a bunch of little things piling up that threw him off.

David thought about going after her and actually talk to her to ask what was wrong, but would it worth pissing her off even more? With her mood right now, it was like she could easily snap at him. Who knows, it's probably only for today and she'll be back to her old self by tomorrow. It also might help if he gets the damn car to work. He sighed, focusing his attention back on the car while ignoring every bone, gut, and instinct in his body on going after her.

After few hours went by, the hour of midnight approaching, and David was still working on the car. But at last, with a turn of the keys, the engine finally came to life. The gas gauge showed that the tank was half full, luckily, he did find a siphon and a gas can. Clementine's going to be excited! He turned the car off and put the keys on the workbench and headed back to the living room. The fire was on it's dying flames and the plates from dinner were still on the floor. David picked up the plates and made his way to the kitchen to set them in the sink. He couldn't help but look out the window in front of him, reminding him of the days when he'd sneak up behind his wife doing the dishes to kiss her, back to those happy days. What he'd give to go back to that and to not be in this god damn hell.

David breathed out a sigh. He missed Isabella and he missed Kate, despite them one of them leaving and the other falling out of love with him. Now he had another girl to take care of, and the last thing he needs is for this to go south. Speaking of Clementine, where was she? She wasn't asleep on the living room couch. He left the kitchen and started down the hall to the closed bedroom door. David slowly opened it and he found Clementine asleep in the bed. He checked his watch briefly, he'd probably give her a half-hour more of sleep before waking her for her shift. Just as he was about to shut the door and head back to the living room, there was a sharp gasp followed by heavy breathing. David looked back into the room seeing Clementine sitting up, trying to calm herself down from what looked like a nightmare.

"Hey."

She jerked her head towards him in alarm before she relaxed, seeing it was just him. "H-hey." she managed to breathe out as she turned her head to focus on her hands. Her thumb began to rub her stub like she did earlier today.

"Are you okay?" He asked her.

"Yeah, it was just a bad dream. It- It's nothing."

It wasn't just nothing, and he knew it. She was playing with her stub as if she was trying to distract herself, maybe it is her nervous tick. She's been playing with her stub a lot today, though.

Clementine got out of bed as she cleared her throat. "I can take it from here." She crossed her arms and her head went down as she walked past him towards the living room. She's not telling him something.

David followed her only to find her curled up on the couch playing with her stub.

"Clem." He said. She jumped at his comforting hand touching her shoulder.

"David, just get some rest." She said to him. This sounded more like her, but her voice was a bit more upset, somewhat pleading.

"Clem-" He tried again, but she cut him off by shrugging his hand off her shoulder.

"Please, just leave me alone."

He opened his mouth to say something but he closed it. There wasn't anything he could do right now and she didn't want him here. As much as he didn't want to leave her and ignore the situation, he knew Clementine won't give in and let him know what's wrong; the prideful kid. David waited for a few seconds, hoping she'd change her mind and ask him to stay so she can talk to him, but she doesn't.

"Alright, but feel free to wake me up if you get tired." It's all he could do. He had no clue how else to help her.

Her cold-shoulder response put the dying fire out and sent him back to the bedroom so he could sleep like she told him to.

It'll soon be a new day, and he needed rest. Hopefully, things will be better by the morning.

* * *

He saw Clementine's face lighten up at the sound of the car working. They had a car now, they can get to AJ faster. David turned the engine off and got out. The sun was up and they were about ready to continue their journey. Clementine seemed to be doing better, which was good. He didn't have to worry about her anymore.

"We can siphon gas when we need to. I found the stuff to do so." David said to her.

"This is great!" she breathed.

"Do you know how to siphon gas?"

"No, not really."

"I'll teach you when we get out on the road."

Her smile faded. "Oh shit. Are the backpacks still inside?"

"Yeah, I think they are." he said back.

"I'll get them."

Clementine left the garage to grab their backpacks. David was glad that she worked out whatever was bugging her. However, despite her acting more like herself, at times her attitude seemed forced. Other than that, everything's been fine with her this morning and things have been fine between them. He could tell that she's still iffy on about him being here, but he's here for her, as long as she knows that then it's fine.

The sound of glass shattering met his ears and caused him to freeze. Clem was taking her time with grabbing the backpacks. David left the garage to investigate the noise and the first thing he noticed in the living room was that the front door was open. The bedroom down the hall soon had noise coming from it. It sounded like grunts, hits, and muttered voices.

David quickly pulled out his knife as he neared the bedroom, the noises becoming more audible. The more audible it became, the more it sounded like there were two people in that room instead of one. He could make out Clementine's grunts and panicked voice, and he also could hear a man's annoyed and agitated tone of voice. When he was only a few feet from the door he was finally able to make out a couple sentences.

"Come on, be a good girl!"

"Leave me alone!" That was Clem, and she needed help. There was no fucking way he trusted the intentions of that man's tone and words.

He burst open the bedroom door only to see what he feared. A man who had a hold of Clementine's arm as he punched the child in the face. David rammed himself into the fucker, causing him to let go of Clem. He pinned the bastard up against the wall and held the knife to his neck, but the man managed to shove David off of him and knocked the knife out of his hand. The two of them fought, Clementine was still dazed from the hit, but she tried to stand up in an attempt to gain her focus back.

Just as she got on her feet, David got thrown against her, knocking them both back into a wall with David's weight crushing her as well as knocking the wind out of her. She felt David get pulled off her and she collapsed to the floor with the broken glass digging into her knees from the empty bottle she threw earlier to get David's attention, and thank fuck it worked.

She did her best to get her breath back as David and the man continued to fight; throwing punches, shoving each other against the wall, but they keep one-upping each other. Clementine saw David's knife on the floor and lunged for it as she got up on her feet. She stabbed the man in the back while he delivered a punch to David's stomach. The man shouted in pain, but it was enough for David to gain control over him. He gave the man the same blow to the stomach then decked him in the face. Unfortunately, the power he had over him didn't last long. The man glanced behind him, making quick eye contact with Clementine, he grabbed the front of her shirt and threw the girl at David before he could attack him again. The impact she felt could have been worse, it still hurt though, and it also distracted David.

David felt a fist collide with his cheek, and the force stunned him slightly. He soon heard a grunt from Clementine followed by her coughing and he was able to catch a glimpse of her collapsing to her knees holding her stomach. Then before he could blink, David received another knock-backing punch to the stomach. The man quickly opened a closet door, dodging David's attempts to hit him then he punched David in the face again as he pushed him to the floor of the closet.

That hit to the face really dazed him, a headache was starting to form. David could only hope he didn't get a concussion from that. He held his head as the door closed, leaving him in the darkness with a click from the handle to confirm that it was locked.

"Come here, you little brat!"

"Let fucking go of me!"

"Your ass is going to pay for stabbing me!"

The dark room and his splitting headache made him want to lose consciousness, it felt like he was going to.

"You piece of shit! Let me- MPH!

"Shut the fuck up!"

He can't. Not now. David steadied himself with the wall, using it to assist him up, god his fucking head. He could see the light coming through the crack where the door meets the floor and he could hear Clem's muffled shouts get further and further away. She fucking needed him right now!

David rammed himself into the door, though because he was still dazed from the hit, there wasn't a lot of force. He tried once more, this time his head was in the game, and he rammed himself against the door, focusing on getting it open. Thankfully it worked, the door burst open and he immediately closed his eyes from instantly getting the light in his face, intensifying his headache. He quickly adjusted his eyesight then ran out of the room, the dazed feeling was quickly replaced with rage. If that bastard did anything to her, he was a dead man!

The living room was empty, she wasn't here. David barged into the kitchen and he found her pinned face down on the island counter with that bastard behind her, the knife he once had in his back now in his hand with the blade pressed against the back of Clementine's neck while his other hand held her two wrists behind her back. If it wasn't clear before what that man's intentions were, the position he had Clem in made it crystal.

David yanked him off her. The man still had the knife in his hand and he attempted to stab David with. He caught his wrist and used the palm of his hand to slam into the man's elbow, breaking his arm. The bastard dropped the knife as he cursed out in pain. David picked up the knife from the ground and tried to stab him, but the man dodged it and began to flee. He chased after him until he was out the front door where he fled into the woods that surrounded the street. That fucker was gone.

He shut the front door and made sure to lock it before running back to the kitchen. Clementine was on the floor, her hand gripping the wooden corner of the island as her other hand steadied herself on the floor. David knelt down behind her and wrapped his arms around her body. She was shaking, taking deep breaths to calm herself down from the attack.

"He's gone, Clem. He's gone." David said to reassure her.

Her hands clutched onto his sleeves, the poor girl was now trembling in his arms. She was so vulnerable, and honestly, it scared David to see her like this. From fearless to fearful just like that, just because some fuck managed to gain an advantage of her and pin her down. But she was safe now, that's all that mattered. He ignored the pain from the fight and continued to comfort Clementine because right now she needed it.

* * *

Thanks to some pain medication, David got his headache to subside. It's been a couple hours since they were attacked. Clementine was able to calm down after a few minutes and the moment she did she insisted they leave. David didn't argue. They grabbed their backpacks, got in the car and drove away from that house. Right now they've stopped at a rest stop, David wanted to take advantage of the abandoned cars and trucks and get some gas and Clementine didn't say anything about it. He could only assume that she was still shaken up from this morning

David was currently waiting to finish siphoning gas from a car and he was able to get a good look at his face in the car window. Bruises were starting to show from the fight, damn did that fuck punch hard. He looked over at their car, Clementine was in the passenger seat with the sun visor pulled down so she could use the mirror to look at the nasty black eye she got on the left side of her face. She was trying to use her hair to cover it up and he could see her visibly hiss in pain as she touched it. Clementine confirmed that the bastard hadn't done anything to her other then deck her in the face, hence the black eye, and that David got to the kitchen not long after he pinned her down, but other than that she hasn't said anything about it. All she's done since they've left was play with her stub.

He finished draining the car of its gas and he made his way back to their car to fill it up. Once that was done, he put the gas canister and siphon in the trunk then got in the car.

"We should have enough gas to last us a good while." He said to her.

Clementine didn't say anything in response, and David was starting to worry that she was going to become reclusive like yesterday. She was too busy looking at herself in the sun visor mirror to say anything.

"Do you mind if I look at it?" David asked.

She glanced over at him, her hair covering most of the black eye. Before she could turn her head back to the front, David used a hand to turn her head to face him. He brushed her hair to the side so he could get a better look at her injury. Her left eye was swollen and the skin around it was already discolored to an ugly dark purple.

"Does it hurt?" he asked.

She nodded slightly.

David let go of her face to reach into one of the backpacks in the back seat. He pulled out a full water bottle and gently pressed it against her face. "It's not exactly cold, but it should help."

Clementine took the bottle in her hand and looked back up in the visor mirror. She pulled the bottle away from her face to look at her black eye again. Her eyes closed as she sighed, pushing up the visor.

"David."

He had his hand on the keys and was about to turn it when she said his name. David looked back over at her, seeing her hold the water bottle with both hands in her lap.

"Can I ask you something?"

David paused, confused about where this was going to go. She's never asked him about anything before. "Yeah, of course."

She took a deep breath before she spoke. "What did that man want from me?"

His voice went dry. She's not seriously asking him that, is she?

"I mean, if he wanted our supplies, he could have easily knocked me out, but he kept trying to grab me and said things about how "I'll like it," and I don't…" She cut herself off. "It just seemed like he wanted me."

She was. She was asking him what that man's intentions were. How the fuck can he answer this?

"Why do you want to know that?" He asked with caution.

"So you do know?" She asked back.

David said nothing and that was a confirmation for her.

"Clem, this isn't something that I can… talk about with you."

"Why not?"

He paused. "Look, when we get back to Richmond, you can talk about this with, what's her name, Eleanor, or another woman."

"Why can't you do tell me?" Clementine asked.

"Why do you want me to tell you?" David asked.

"Because you're not going to… Lie to me, or… Sugarcoat it…"

David was speechless at her response. She trusted him to tell her the truth. She was right though; he wasn't going to lie to her, but he wanted to sugarcoat the hell out of _that_ conversation.

"People have made me… uncomfortable before. At Prescott, someone asked me to take off my shirt for a trade. I said no, obviously, but…" A knot formed in David's stomach hearing that. That was a result of kicking her out. "After that, it was that man back in that little town you found me at, then that fuck back at the restaurant, the guy at the lake, that man from this morning-"

"Whoa, wait, what guy at the lake?!" The knot immediately left. He was at that lake with her, what fucking happened? The bottle slipped from her hands and she held her arms, she bit her bottom lip and turned her head away from him as if she let that bit slip. She didn't mean to say that. "Clementine, what guy at the lake?" He asked again, his tone calmer, but more serious.

"I-" She cut herself off, her hands squeezing her arms. "I saw something in the woods while I was bathing. I couldn't tell what it, and it was standing in the shadows. It felt like I was being watch and when I saw it, it moved out of sight... I don't know if it was a guy, but it was too fast to be a walker."

Everything clicked; she started acting differently _after_ they stopped at the lake. The sudden change in her attitude, her shyness, why she was quiet, why she kept playing with her stub like a nervous tick, it was all because she spotted someone perving on her while she bathed, all while his back was turned.

"Why didn't you tell me?" He asked.

"It felt like it didn't matter, there wasn't anything you could have done either way. But I can't take not knowing and not understanding anymore!" Clementine exclaimed. "I'm so confused and I don't get it… I'm just sick of not knowing what I'm doing wrong for them to make me sick to my stomach!"

This is clearly bothering her, for all he knew, the nightmare from last night was the cause of all the stress of her not understanding what those fucks wanted to do with her. David focused on her black eye; he was so close to falling unconscious during that fight, so close to not being able to save Clem. God, had he not been there at all…

"You're not doing anything wrong, Clem." David assured her. He didn't want to talk about this with her, but he's all she had right now, and like she said before: he's not going to lie to her. She wants the truth, no matter how hard it will be on both of them. He placed a hand on her shoulder, causing her to look at him. "Are you absolutely _sure_ you want to know this?"

She breathed in… and out… then she nodded her head.

His hand slipped off her shoulder and grabbed onto the middle compartment between them, debating what would be the best way to start this conversation.

"Has anyone ever given you the talk before?" He asked her. It might be best to figure out how much she knows about this stuff.

"No… what talk?"

"The talk, the birds and the bees?" She still looked confused. "How babies are made?"

"No… sort of."

"Sort of?"

"When I was looking for Dr. Lingard, I started… bleeding. Javi found me and he kind of explained what it was."

"He explained it to you?" While David was relieved that he didn't have to explain periods to her, he was surprised to hear his brother helped her with that.

"He tried to, but he said that it meant I could be a mom if I wanted. He ended up taking me to Kate. She explained what it was, but I wasn't able to ask about what Javi said before we set out to save you."

"I see…" David was silent for a moment. It shouldn't be so bad, he always intended to have the talk with Gabe when he got older and he's been reconsidering talking with him now that he reunited with his son. While explaining how sex works should be easy, explaining the intentions of the sick fucks was going to be more difficult. "He's right though, it just means that you can have kids of your own. I don't know a lot about the female body, so if you want to know more about… periods and how your body works, you're going to have to ask a woman back in Richmond."

"Okay."

David took a deep breath, his mind racing to try to figure out the best and easiest way to explain this. "You were there when AJ's mother gave birth to him, right?"

"Yeah."

"So how did they know that he was a boy?" David asked.

"He had a… wiener…" Clementine said, her voice sounded like she was embarrassed about saying it.

David smirked at her response and Clementine heard it.

"It- It's what my mom said it was." She quickly said.

"Your mom's not wrong, Clem. It's just another name for it. Parents will tell their kids that so they don't say the actual names of it in public." he explained.

"Then what is it called?"

He was silent for a second. "It's called a penis. And girls have a vagina, and generally this is what makes you a male or a female. Does this make sense so far?"

Clementine nodded her head in understanding. David was relieved that he was doing a good job at explaining this so far.

"So babies come from this thing called sex." He watched her head tilt to the side, making it clear to him that she's never heard that word before. "Sex is something that happens when a man and a woman are together, usually if they're in a relationship and they… want to show their love for each other, they'll have sex."

"Okay…"

"And to have sex, the man has to put his penis in the woman's vagina."

Clementine's mouth opened slightly, mouthing the word "oh" to herself. "Is that all it is?"

"Yeah, that's really all it is.

"And when they have sex, it'll make a baby?"

"Sometimes, it will. People have sex for different reasons; they'll do it because they want a baby, or they'll do it for fun, or when they're stressed, or mad, but most people do it because they love each other." David explained. That wasn't so bad, Clementine's smart and she understood it all quickly.

"So, all those men… They wanted to have sex with me?" Clementine asked.

That feeling of accomplishment David had after he successfully explained sex to her left. This has been bothering her since yesterday, she had a right to know. Besides, it would be better for him to explain it instead of it actually happening. All he could hope for is that it doesn't confuse her.

"No, Clem. It's not… _exactly_ what they were going to do." David sighed. "Sex is something that's supposed to be done between two people who love each other or two people who want to have sex with each other. It's something that both people should enjoy, and when sex isn't that, it becomes something else."

"What do you mean?"

David processed what she said, trying to think of the best and easiest way for her understand this. "Take this guy from this morning for example. Did you want him to attack you?"

"No."

"Did you want him to pin you down like he did?"

"No."

"Would you have wanted him to have sex with you?"

"No."

"And that's why it's different; because you didn't want what he was going to do and you weren't okay with it." David explained. "Clem, when someone forces you to have sex with them when you don't want it or does it when your unconscious, then it's not called sex… it's called rape."

"Rape?"

"Yes."

So, that man… was trying to rape me?" Clementine asked.

David nodded. He's glad that she was able to understand the difference.

"But why would he want to do something like that, why would anyone want to do that?" she asked.

"I… I don't know, Clem. There are people out there who want to hurt others, I'm sure you know that. Some of them just like children like that, and others just want to hurt you like that because they want to, regardless if you're a child. And unfortunately, nowadays, there's no one to stop them from getting away with it." David said to her. "Listen, I know this all is… a lot, but I don't want you to be scared of sex. There are bad people out there, but there are good people out there, too. I promise, one day you'll find someone and that someone will make you happy, and there's no doubt in my mind that you'll want kids of your own. I just hope that you understand when sex is sex and when rape is rape."

Clementine processed everything that was said, her brain trying to understand all the new information given. She was able to connect the dots of everything she's seen regarding sex and her experiences with assholes, how everything made more sense. Even why David was so hesitant to talk about this with her, the things she wanted to know wasn't pleasant to hear.

"Did all of that make sense?" David asked.

Clementine nodded her head.

They both sat back in their seats. The conversation was done, it was over, now all that was left was the numbness of new knowledge.

"Is there anything else you want to know?" he asked.

"No. I think I got it." Clementine said as she brought the water bottle back up to her swollen eye. "Let's keep going."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure."

David looked at her for a quick second, waiting for her to ask him something else, but she didn't. So he turned the keys to start the engine, put the car in drive, and stepped on the gas. Day four was already underway.

* * *

 **A/N: See, told ya things got awkward. I mean the chapter is called The Talk so I don't know what you expected. Thanks for reading and let me know what you think! I'll get IJH out soon!**


	5. Troubled Past

**A/N: Good evening. This is finally done! Sorry for the long gap, but it's out now! Fair warning, this chapter is kind of flashback heavy, but other than that please enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own the Walking Dead Game.**

Mending

Daisyfan5534

Chapter 5

* * *

The car pulled off the highway to a rest stop, Clementine wasn't going to ask why. It could be for more gas or a break for David, or her, or both of them. Honestly, she needed a one. David put the car in park and Clementine opened the door to step out, she needed to get out of that car and get some fresh air. She shut the car door and leaned her back up against it, maybe now the events from earlier today can stop playing in her mind.

She was so happy this morning when David got the car working. She may not have explicitly shown it, but she was glad that they could get to AJ faster… And that's what was on her mind when she left the garage to grab the backpacks. Then she walked into the room…

 _"Oh… Um… Hey…"_ She caught a man off guard holding one of the backpacks. _"I guess these are yours."_

Clementine remembered how she immediately pulled her gun on him. He was about the same size as David, but younger, maybe in his late twenties or early thirties. She knew that man could overpower her.

" _Hey, no need for that. You don't need your gun."_

" _Put the backpack down."_ She told him.

"Hey, relax, I'm alone, and I didn't know this place was occupied." He said to her, ignoring her demands. _"Are you alone, too?_

" _Put it down!"_

" _We can do some trading if you want."_

" _Put it down or I'll fucking shoot you!"_

" _All right, all right."_

The very moment that backpack touched the floor, that man rushed her and managed to loosen the gun from her grip enough to shove it under her chin and place a hand over her mouth. Her finger was still on the trigger of her gun that was forced under her chin and his strength kept her from moving. She remembered how rough his grip felt and the look of hunger in his eyes that she didn't have an explanation for… how she felt trapped.

" _Now what's a little girl like you doing all alone?"_ His smirk sent chills down her back. _"Don't you know it's too dangerous for you to be alone?"_

She remembered the two thoughts that ran through her head: putting a bullet in that guy's head and David. She needed an opportunity to make an attack, so she made one. All she did was bite down on the hand over her mouth and kneed him in the balls then she managed to shove him off of her. It gave her enough time to adjust her grip on the gun, but not enough time to aim it before he punched her and threw her down onto a bed. He tried grabbing her ankle, but she scooted herself back before she aimed the gun at his head and pulled the trigger.

 _POOF!_

That sound echoed in her ears. The sound of one of Eli's fucking bullets that she loaded because she found a couple bullets at the bottom of her backpack, the sound of her heart dropping, even now that it's all over and she's safe, that pathetic sound gave her a reason to be scared.

That man knocked the gun out of her hand and crawled on top of her. His hand gripped her throat, forcing her to swallow her scream for help.

" _Well…"_ his eyes only trailed down her body, but she felt so disgusting. _"Never done it with a kid before, but I guess there's a first time for everything."_ It sounded like he almost didn't want to hurt her, like a disinterest. _"Damn, it's been too long."_

" _W-we can trade…"_ The voice she managed to find was so weak and quiet, but all she needed was to distract him long enough to get help. David was on the other side of the house in the garage, and she can't tell this asshole about him otherwise he would use her as a human shield against David. That would fuck over the both of them, she can't do that.

" _All right, I'll spare your life and supplies if you just relax and let me do this."_

She remembered feeling so confused at that statement and that moment unwillingly came rushing back to her.

* * *

 _She had no clue what he meant or what he wanted to do, but she wasn't going to let him do whatever he wanted, not without a fight. Clementine jammed her fingers in his eyes and it was enough for her to escape his grip and get off the bed. That was when she saw the glass bottle on the nightstand. She purposely threw the bottle at the wall instead of him, hoping it would get David's attention. Clementine attempted to run, but the man caught her and she did what she could to make noise from grunts to yelling at the man while keeping her voice down to prevent her from sounding like she was trying to get help._

 _Thankfully the bottle worked in getting David's attention, but she saw her life flash before her eyes when the bastard knocked David to the floor in the closet and he didn't get back up. She thought he was unconscious and so did the fuck who locked the closet and immediately grabbed her. Clementine didn't stop fighting, but she was getting terrified of what this man wanted to do. For all she knew, David wouldn't be able to save her, she was on her own. She did her best to fight against him, but it was no use. He overpowered her and pinned her down on the kitchen island. She felt so frozen and powerless, she ended up kicking the cabinets behind her as a last resort. The sound of the cabinets banging was a reminder to her that she had no control, that there was nothing she can do to stop him, that she had no choice._

* * *

Clementine exhaled and her eyes opened. She was at the rest stop, David was still getting gas, and she's safe. She shook off the chills from the memory, not wanting to think about the attack again, and she forced herself to think about something else. The talk she and David had immediately came to mind. So much got put into perspective for her, aside from the creepy fucks with their fucked up motives, things made more sense. Specifically, things from her past.

"Hey," She could feel David's weight as he leaned his back up against the car. He set the gas canister down on the ground. "Are you… okay from this morning?"

"I don't know… I guess." Clementine told him. Honestly, she was still shaken up about it. What that man wanted was only put into context not long too ago.

"Did what we talk about help at all?"

"Yeah, it did." It felt like it did, but the more she thought about it, the more she didn't know what was worse; her not knowing what he was going to do or her now knowing what he wanted and the thought of what he would have done if things went his way. Damn it, she had to stop thinking about it. "I-uh…" She huffed out a laugh. "I think I might have walked into two people having sex."

"Really?" David asked.

"Well, I mean, they weren't _having_ sex when I found them, but I think that's what they were doing before I came up."

Clementine can remember Luke's startled look on his face when he saw her and when she asked what was going on. He stuttered and struggled to find an answer while Jane smirked. It made sense now. Even him saying to Kenny that he needed a moment of something else because they were surrounded by shit made more sense. And when the group was sitting around the campfire talking about what he and Jane did and how Bonnie tried to get the guys to shut up about it when Clem was around.

Luke was kind of a mess after Carver's; he broke into Howe's, didn't sleep at all since they got taken, had to deal with Sarah dying in the trailer, then with Rebecca's baby on the way, it was all a lot. But Luke was ten times better after he and Jane had sex. It was kind of stupid, but hell, he needed a break… they all did, she couldn't blame him for that, she can't blame Jane either. She missed Jane… despite tricking her, Clementine does hope she's okay.

"I thought they just made-out the entire time." Clementine admitted and she heard David's chuckle.

That brought a smile to her face, her child-like stupidity was kind of funny looking back at it. Her memories went back a bit farther and her smile faded.

"You said that if a man and a woman have sex, they'd make a baby, right?" Clementine asked.

"Yeah, that's what would happen, considering they don't use protection." David explained.

"And the man and the woman would be the mom and dad of the baby?"

David nodded.

"But how does someone know that the mom is the mom and the dad is the dad?"

"The mother is the one who gives birth to it and the father is the one who got the mother pregnant."

Clementine thought for a moment. Her new knowledge about sex and babies now being applied to what she heard in the past. She was able to connect the dots and that left her with another question.

"So if a woman has sex with two men and she gets pregnant… then who's the father?"

"I… I don't know."

"Oh…"

She was able to piece together why Carver was after them and why he thought the baby was his. She didn't want to think about if AJ was that mad man's or not; it's Alvin's and AJ doesn't have to know about Carver.

"Before, you could get a DNA test to figure out who the dad is, but not anymore." David sighed then processed her questions thoroughly. "Why are you asking this?"

"No reason… just curious…" her voice trailed off. Shit, what if AJ is Carver's. What if she's been raising his kid? Looking back at the minimal conversations they both had, she could understand that he wanted Clementine to take over Howe's for him eventually. Like hell she'd do that. She did not want that mad man's madhouse. Back then she assumed he was talking about AJ, but no, he probably wanted her to raise AJ with him and train him to take over for her. Her raising AJ, it's probably what Carver would have wanted.

"Curious?" David didn't doubt that she was asking out of curiosity, she was, but it wasn't regular curiosity. If it was she would have asked questions leading up to that one. She just jumped ahead to that as if she knew was she was talking about and wanted an answer.

"It's old group drama." Clementine explained. She wasn't there when Rebecca got pregnant or with Luke's group at all until very late in the pregnancy when they were still on the run. She has absolutely no clue what happened, and she can't put her new information into context other than the sex part. She cringed at that, that's fucking disgusting.

"What was the drama with your old group?" David asked.

"It… it's over now."

Clementine didn't want to get into it. It was all a mess; the fighting, the baby, the group, it wasn't stable and they were all falling apart, it was only inevitable that the group ended up crashing and burning.

David respected her answer. As much as he wanted to know more about her, he understood that she didn't want to get into it and she'll tell him when she's ready.

"Were you able to find any gas?"

"Yeah, some, but I just wanted to make sure you were all right." David told her. "You hadn't said anything since we talked and you seemed out of it just now so is everything okay?"

"Yeah… everything is fine."

"Are you sure he didn't do anything to you? Because if you're unsure than he might have actually-"

"David." She interrupted. "I'm sure. He didn't… do anything, but it's… unsettling."

David didn't know how to respond to that. There wasn't anything he could think of that would make things better for her. He can't change what happened this morning, but he can do his best to turn it around.

Clementine opened the back door to the car and pulled out her backpack. She threw it on her back and went to go search the empty cars. Most things were picked clean, but you never know. She needed to take her mind off of this morning. David set the gas canister down and grabbed his backpack to follow Clem. They checked the empty cars and giant semi trucks, continually finding nothing but old memories and things left behind from the old world.

"Damn it!" Clementine closed the trunk of an abandoned car. "Find anything?"

"Sort of."

Clementine looked over at David pulling a CD case out of the car. She walked over to him and he handed the item to her. She looked at the cover of the CD case then turned it over; she couldn't read it. "This is all in Spanish."

"The fastest way I learned English was listening to songs on the radio. You said you wanted to learn Spanish."

"Yeah, but I thought you were going to teach me by explaining what the words mean. I'm not going to understand any of this."

"I didn't understand English at first either, Spanish was my first language. My pa wanted me to learn it as fast as I could. I learned the basic stuff in school, and then after school, I'd listen to the radio that played in a convenience store near home. Words start to get repeated enough times and sooner or later you'll figure out what they mean. This is good shit, too, you'll like it."

"You're going to teach me the basic stuff right?"

"Eventually."

Clementine packed the CD in her bag before she and David headed back to the car.

"Was Javi the same way?"

"Learning English? In some ways, yes. I taught him a lot of what I know so it would be easier for him, but-"

 _CH-CH!_

"Hands up! Both of you!"

They both looked at each other, slowly raising their hands.

"Turn around. Slowly."

David and Clem did what the man asked. They saw a man holding a shotgun in front of them and another man with a pistol in his hand. Both men had their guns aimed at them.

"Toss your bags." The man with the shotgun said.

The two of them paused, gave each other a quick glance, then proceeded to do what was asked.

"Any funny business and we shoot you both."

Clementine, still being on edge from this morning, was being as cautious as she could. She slowly removed her backpack and tossed it in front of her. To her, it only seemed like they were interested in their stuff. It was better than the asshole from this morning, but still, all of their stuff, including the map, she didn't want to lose that.

David followed suit, he didn't want to start anything that was going to risk them dying, but most importantly he was going to make sure he keeps her safe. While neither of these men gave off bad intentions, other than stealing, he couldn't be too sure.

The man with the pistol pocketed his gun and bent down to look through their stuff while the man with the shotgun kept his gun trained on the two, making sure their hands stay up in the air.

"So what do we got here? A little daddy-daughter-duo?" the shotgun man asked.

"Whatever they are, they got a good amount of shit."

"We won't hurt ya, as long as you don't do anything stupid."

Clementine began brainstorming. She can't lose the map. Her eyes looked around and landed on David's gun that was tucked into the back of his pants, handle sticking out, ready for a quick draw. She just needed to get it. Clementine looked back at the men in front of her and waited for the man with the shotgun to glance down at his friend. Once he did, she side-stepped closer to David, not enough to be completely behind him, just her arm. The man noticed that she moved, then smirked.

"Ain't that cute? She's cowering behind her dad."

"I don't know if that's her dad."

"What do ya mean?"

"They don't fucking look alike."

"They look similar."

"Not really."

She took their bickering as an opportunity.

David was confused at Clementine's move towards him. He knew that she was still having issues from this morning, but this was really not like her to just cower towards him, especially him of all people. It all became clear when he felt her hand slowly hover down his back then pull his gun out. David had to bite his inner cheek to hold back a smirk, this kid was smart.

Clementine glanced up at him and they made eye contact. She used her eyes to gesture to the man with the shotgun. David quickly understood and gave one small nod.

"So where are you both headed to?"

Clementine and David both raised their eyebrows at the question. They didn't answer, they were both waiting for the right moment to strike.

"Why are you asking them questions?" the guy looking through the backpacks asked.

"Because I'm bored."

"But you always do this."

"Yeah, because I'm bored."

"It's weird. All we're going to do is tie them up and leave them when we're done. You don't need to."

"I'm just trying to pass time while you look through what they got. And you always take a long ass time."

"I just want to see how much longer we're going to survive based off of this."

The man with the shotgun took his eyes off them and looked down towards his friend. Clementine pushed on David's back, signaling him to go. David rushed at the man and shoved the shotgun up and a shot went off. Clementine quickly moved over to the other man and held the gun to his head just as he pulled his out. David kicked the man in the knee and yanked the shotgun out of his hands and aimed it at him.

"Drop it." Clementine said to the man looking through their bags.

The man dropped his gun and she kicked it away.

David used the butt of the gun to knock out one of the men then quickly did the same with the other man. Clementine sighed as she lowered the gun. Growls met their ears, they saw walkers pour out of the forest. Clem looked down at the two unconscious men and she felt bad. Compared to this morning, these men had the intentions of letting them go unharmed. Fuck. Clementine grabbed one of the men's arms and began pulling him to an abandoned car.

"Clem, we have to go!" David exclaimed.

"Help me get them into the car!" She yelled back.

"We don't have time!"

"We will if you fucking help me!"

"Ay dios mio!"

David didn't know why she had the sudden change of heart for these assholes, but with the walkers on the way, he couldn't waste time arguing with her. He grabbed the other man and dragged him as well. After they shut them both in a car, they both booked it back to their vehicle, grabbing their bags. David started the car, not caring about his seat belt, and he and Clem drove off, getting as far away from the walkers as possible.

Clementine tore open her bag and pulled out the map. She sighed in relief, she still had that. Clem opened the map up and tried to plan their route for today. If they stayed on this road, they should get to McCarroll Ranch in the next day or two. She folded the map and put it away, then pulled out David's gun.

"Here." she held it out to him.

David glanced at her and took his gun back, but he had to ask.

"Clem, what happened back there?"

"I…" She thought back, it was weird now that she thought about it, but she felt good in a way. "I don't know. They didn't hurt us, they weren't going to, just… compared to earlier, it was nothing."

David knew she was referring to this morning. Honestly, he'd rather have all their stuff taken if Clementine didn't have to go through that. She showed mercy to those who didn't hurt her, he wasn't going to blame her for that, even if they were thieves.

"You did good back there." He complimented as he raised his gun. "That was smart."

Clementine smiled. "Thanks."

She grabbed her bag again and looked through it. Clementine pulled out the CD David found earlier and opened the case. She put the CD in the stereo and pressed play. Clementine opened the glove compartment and looked through it. She found car registration papers, which she tossed to the floor of the backseat. Clementine pulled out a blue pen and clicked it. She drew circles on the palm of her hand to see it works and she smiled when the saw the blue ink swirls. She rolled up her sleeve and began doodling on her forearm.

David caught a glimpse of her doodling little flowers, vines, and skulls as well as bobbing her head slightly to the music softly playing in the car.

"Do we just stay on this road?"

"Yeah. We'll be on it for a while."

David nodded as the car returned to silence between them with the music softly playing. After a while, Clementine turned up the music slightly, she liked it. He smiled, he hasn't heard music in so long. The song switched over and his smile faded. It reminded him of his second wedding.

* * *

 _He had just finished his first dance with his wife, and he couldn't be a happier man. Kate was here, with him. They were finally married. It was a new chapter in his life and he couldn't wait for it to start. He looked into Kate's graceful green eyes and he couldn't help but smile as they went to go sit down. How did he end up with the most beautiful woman on the planet? Nothing could make this day bad for him._

 _Not long after he sat down he felt a tug on his sleeve. "David."_

 _He turned to face his brother. "Javi?"_

" _Gabe left during the dance." he said to him._

" _He what?"_

" _Is he okay? Kate asked, overhearing the conversation._

" _I don't know, he's sitting outside on the back steps. You should go talk to him."_

 _David stood up, but Kate grabbed his arm. "I'll come with you."_

" _No, honey. I'll take care of it. Can you make sure Marianna doesn't worry?"_

" _Of course." Kate's hand moved up to his cheek to pull him in for a quick kiss before letting go._

 _David watched her pull his daughter to the dance floor to dance with her. He patted his brother's shoulder as a thank you before he left the room. David opened the back door of the church and saw his son sitting at the bottom of the steps. He sighed as he walked down the steps._

" _Mijo." he said as he sat down next to him. "What are you doing out here?"_

" _I felt sick from the food."_

" _Don't let your abuela hear you say that."_

 _Ever since he met Kate, Gabe has always been distant from her. He always believed that his mom would come back and everything would go back to normal. Even now at seven-years-old, he keeps a notebook to write down all the things that have happened ever since she left to update her when she comes back. The first time David caught him writing in it Gabe was five and he explained it was for his mom. No matter how many times he would explain to his son that his mother was gone for good, he wouldn't believe it. This led to him not liking Kate at first when David first started dating her._

" _Dad, did you invite mom to the wedding?" Gabe asked._

 _This was a question he has asked ever since they started planning. David always said "Not yet," but it was a lie._

 _He sighed. "No, Gabe. I didn't."_

" _Why not? She's family, and you said that nothing is more important than familia."_

 _He did say that, but that woman left him. Not only did she leave him, but she also abandoned their children without saying goodbye. She was going to leave them while he was out drinking with his brother and while they were sleeping. As far as David was concerned, she's not family anymore… Not to him…_

" _Familia is important."_

" _Then why isn't she here?"_

" _Because I don't know where she is." David answered honestly. Even if he did know where she was, he wouldn't have invited her. No way in hell did she deserve to be here. "Gabriel, it was hard for me to accept that your mother left us, but I had to be strong, for you, for your sister. I needed to move on, and I did."_

" _But what if she comes back and she wants to get back together with you."_

" _If she wanted to come back, then she had every chance to do so, and she still does, but she's going to have to see that I've moved on from her."_

 _Gabe sighed. "I miss her."_

" _I know you do."_

" _Do you think she misses me, too?"_

 _David didn't say anything. The words of her letter came back to him, how she didn't love her kids like she used to._

" _Well, if she comes back, then you'll know for sure."_

 _He knows that Gabe has been having a difficult time accepting Kate as his stepmom. He didn't blame him, he and Kate have only been together for two years and Gabe is one-hundred percent sure that his mother would come back and everything would go back to normal. Unfortunately for the kid, his mother never returned, and David wasn't sure she ever would._

" _Kate loves you; you know that, right?" David told him._

 _Gabe was silent, but he nodded._

" _All I want you to do is to give her a chance."_

" _... She's not mom."_

 _David sighed. "I know she's not, and I know that's hard, but I want you to try. Please, mijo."_

" _Okay, dad."_

 _David smiled. That's all he could ask for. He patted his son's back as he stood up. "Come on, let's go back inside."_

* * *

He twisted the wedding ring around his finger with his thumb. David had his time to grieve over Kate. Despite her falling out of love with him, falling in love and out of love with his brother, she still meant a lot to him. She was family and maybe if he went back to the house when this whole mess started, then things would have been different. Maybe both she and his daughter would be alive.

One thing's for certain though, he probably wouldn't be driving a car traveling with a cold-shouldered teen to get her bratty kid back. She has warmed up to him a bit, but he has a long way to go for her to actually trust him instead of their trust based on a truce.

David looked past his ring to the dashboard, the gas gauge getting dangerously close to empty. He thought for a moment, replaying the events leading up to when they left. He got gas, he talked to Clem, he joined her looting the cars, they almost got their stuff taken, then they drove off… Wait a minute.

He looked back to the back seat then turned back to the road. "Did you grab the gas canister?" he asked Clem.

She turned away from the window to look at him. "I thought you grabbed it. Did you not-?" She turned to look at the back seat as well then replayed the events from the rest stop. "Did you at least empty it into the car?"

He was focused on making sure Clementine was okay, he didn't gas up the car. "No." David pulled over and slowed down to a stop.

"Fuck." she breathed as he turned the engine off.

They both sat in silence for a moment. They didn't know what to do. Clementine pulled out the map quickly and unfolded it on the dashboard. She studied it for a moment.

"What are you thinking?" David asked.

She looked ahead then back to the map. "It's further to the next city than back to the rest stop."

"No." David stopped her. "We are not going back to the rest stop."

"The fucking canister is there! Full of gas!" Clementine pointed out.

"So are walkers and probably those two who tried to rob us!" David added.

"They weren't going to kill us!"

"And you're going to bet on the fact that we didn't kill them that they won't take our stuff or become violent."

Clementine opened her mouth to say something but turned her head away from him and looked at the greenery out the window.

"The forest stretches all the way back to the rest stop, if we head straight back that way through the forest, we can hide in there if they come up the road, and if they're at the rest stop, we'll see them."

David gave a low hum, thinking about the situation. "We can't leave the car sitting here. It's the only car for miles someone will take it."

"Then we can take the battery."

"No, we can't risk not getting the car to work again."

"Then we take off a wheel or two, just something to make the car look like it doesn't work. It's nearly out of gas anyway, no one is going to steal a car without gas."

Clementine opened the car door before David could say anything more. This kid is stubborn as hell. He pulled the car keys out and got out of the car. They both grabbed their backpacks then David looked over at Clementine.

"Do you even know how to take off a wheel?"

"I've seen my dad do it before. You need to take off the screw things and lift the car up… I think."

David moved to the trunk. "We can only remove a wheel if we have the stuff to do so." He opened the trunk. He couldn't believe he was going along with her plan. He didn't like it one bit.

"Wouldn't it just be easier to keep going?"

"I want to get to AJ as fast as I can. This car is fast so we can get there and fast so we can get back to Richmond!"

They were lucky to find wheel stuff. David helped her take a back wheel off then they put the wheel in the trunk and locked the car.

"Ready?" Clementine asked.

"This is a dumb idea." David said.

"But if we get the canister back it'll be worth it."

She was right. It would be worth it so they didn't have to walk there and back to Richmond. They didn't really have much of a choice. Well, David technically did, Clementine was doing this with or without him. He could stay with the car and make sure it doesn't get stolen, but splitting up is a bad idea. Besides, as much as he had faith in Clem to get the job done and come back unharmed, he didn't feel comfortable letting her go back alone to a place where they were ambushed.

They walked into the forest and began heading back the way they came. Clementine thought back to all of the days and nights she spent wandering through the woods during all this. She's grown comfortable with all the trees, the shade, the occasional animal that she'd spot; it's something she knows. She felt an odd sense of safety whenever she's in the forest. It's not like the middle of the road when she's felt exposed to walkers and raiders, it was protection, a place where she can run if need be, find food when she's hungry, and have shelter for bad weather.

As much as she liked the forest, she hated sleeping alone in there. It was terrifying and freezing. The fear of someone getting the jump on her and the fire going out in the middle of the night while she slept was not enjoyable. It fucked up her sleep cycle. She would wake up at any sound or when she got too cold, and she'd find a house or a car in the middle of the day to get some rest because of the little sleep she got last night. She didn't really have to worry about being cold during the day, but she still woke up at any sound which didn't help much. Sleeping in the woods with David eased both those things, though, and it was nice to have a good night sleep.

She remembered when there were days where she didn't want to get up. All she wanted was to lay down and just do nothing but lie there. After what happened at New Frontier, she had a lot of those days of wanting to do nothing. She was too depressed to get anything done and getting up and moving became such a chore for her. It felt like she didn't have the energy to do anything at all. Sometimes she'd dwell on her past; how all the deaths of everyone whom she cared about and how some were her fault. All of that made her feel worse. This would sometimes end up with her in a bathtub.

Aside from forests, she always felt safe in bathtubs. She didn't know why, but ever since she was little whenever she was upset and needed to cry, she'd go cry in the bathtub. Her distant memories of her mom or dad coming to find her alone or with a stuffed animal crying in the bathtub after nightmares were somewhat comforting. Despite the memories making her feel worse because she would be thinking about her parents, it was still comforting.

It was like that small space was just for her. She never understood why, but she didn't care. It was where she felt safe, safe enough to cry at least. It felt like the rest of the world would disappear when she crawled in the tub. A few times she brought in a pillow and a blanket so she could sleep there all day when she wasn't being sad. Actually, that's how she met him.

* * *

 _She loved spring, only for the reason that it would get warmer and she wouldn't be freezing. If the world was back the way it was, she'd be excited about the plants coming back to life and the world getting color once more, but she was stuck in the middle of the rain, dead corpses, and painful memories. She was holed up in a house, taking shelter from the bad weather, and all the pictures on the wall of the family that used to live here made her upset. Her own family was dead; her parents, Lee, AJ, everyone else she's cared about, they're all dead. She was in the bathtub like a child, and she's been there for at least a day. She didn't know if that was true, but she did fall asleep in the tub and she only woke up a couple hours ago. It felt like a day had gone by, though.  
_

 _Clementine sighed and curled up tighter in her ball. She felt so drained of any kind of energy and knowing that fact alone was exhausting. She just wanted to lie there and do nothing while battling her own guilt trip; she should get up, she should go find food, she should get water, at least do something, but no, not today. Her head turned up to the ceiling, it felt like her guilt was eating her. She felt so heavy, yet she felt like she was floating up to the ceiling._ _Her closed her eyes and forced herself to sit up. She was cold. There, that's something; she'll get up to find a coat or a blanket or something then she'll go back to laying down. She felt guilty about knowing she was going to go back to doing nothing, but she didn't care, she just wanted to lay down. Doing anything more was tiring. Clementine stood up and stepped out of the bathtub and held herself as she walked out of the bathroom. She went to the nearest closet and opened the door and pulled out a throw blanket. Clementine wrapped it around her shoulders then turned back towards the bathroom._

 _CRASH!_

 _She gasped. She could have sworn the doors were locked, then again it doesn't take that much to break into a house. She managed to get in by opening a window and cutting the window mesh because the doors were locked. She pulled out her knife and held the blanket around her with another hand as she slowly walked towards the source of the crash. Clementine walked into the living room and scanned her surroundings, her eyes landing on the open window she used to climb through then her eyes shifted to the unexpected wet spots on the floor leading to the entertainment center with a vase shattered on the ground. She looked on top of it and spotted a black cat._

 _Clementine relaxed her body and put her knife away. Of all the things that she was prepared for, this wasn't one of them. She sighed as she walked back over to the window to close it and lock it, cursing herself for not doing this before. She should be lucky that only a cat managed to get in and not anything else. The rain outside didn't help her mood. Clem pulled the blanket over her head and held the ends under her chin as she walked back to the bathroom, ignoring the cat and family pictures up on the wall. Another reason why she liked the bathroom, no family pictures making her feel guilty and sad about her own family. So many people are dead, people that she loved, people that loved her, even the family in the picture frames. A happy family, just torn apart by this world, and maybe literally by walkers. Why did they deserve that? Why did anyone deserve that? Why not her? What makes her special?_

 _She made it back into the bathroom and climbed back into the tub to lay down. The thoughts of family mixing with her guilt weren't helping her depression. Her eyes watered and she bit down on her lip as she curled herself up into a ball. Today really wasn't her day, and she's been having a lot of days like this. Maybe it's time to accept this as her new normal. Alone, depressed, wanting nothing more than to just lay here, wishing that things were normal and that her parents would soon come find her and make all of this go away. Clementine let some tears fall. She hated all of this, she wanted this heavy feeling to stop._

 _A few moments passed of her quietly crying to herself, ignoring light thuds from around the house. She kept herself from completely sobbing, but she was letting something out. Clementine pulled the blanket over her head, she wanted to be in the dark. The bathroom door lightly banged into the doorstop, then she heard something land in the bathtub. She lifted the blanket slightly to see the cat from before at the foot of the tub staring back at her. Wait…_

 _Clementine propped herself up on her arms, momentarily confused. It just hit her that there was a cat in the house. There is a fucking cat in the house with her! She didn't even give it a second thought, she just ignored it. Her mind was turned off; her guilt and depression had completely taken over her so much that she didn't even care that a cat broke in._ _It's as if she had become desensitized to the world around her…_

 _The cat looked up at the ceiling, staring at a dangling cobweb. Clementine sat up and held her hand out to the cat. It took notice and came closer to rub its face against her hand. Clem scratched under its chin and it began purring._

 _She sighed. "What's wrong with me?" she asked aloud._

 _The cat was so soft. She couldn't believe that it was even here, she didn't think she'd ever see a cat again. Clem scratched behind the cat's ears. She thought more about how her world became dull and lifeless. How some nights she'd cry herself to sleep and then wouldn't get up the next morning because everything felt heavy._

 _She knew why, too. Her losing AJ wasn't good for her. But that was months ago, it was spring now. Why is she still dealing with it? Why can't she move on?_

" _Why…?"_

 _It was the one question that ran through her head at least once a day. Ever since Tripp saved her life, she couldn't stop asking it. Why did he save her? Why did she ignore his small talk whenever she stopped by Prescott? Why did she fight each day to survive? Why did she get out of bed today? Why is there a fucking cat here? Why is she petting it?_

 _She stroked the cat's black fur, realizing there's no collar._

" _I guess you're alone, too."_

 _Fuck, she hated being alone. It always brought out the worst in her. Her thoughts, her emotions, her memories, but no one is getting hurt because of her. Maybe that's the only reason why she'll tolerate it. Even if it gets to be too much for her sometimes, at least when she's around others, she's not focused on all her issues. She'd rather be with others just so she wouldn't have to worry about herself, but in the end, it would always stab her in the back. She ends up getting attached, and she starts to care, and then she'd be all alone again. She would always end up alone and she'd be alone with her thoughts._

 _It was a never ending cycle of wanting to be around people and wanting to be alone. Her memories of every group she's been in and how they've affected her. With Lee, she had to keep calm so the adults could figure things out for themselves. Then she was alone for a few hours, terrified and guilty about Lee. After that, she was with Christa and then the cabin group, she had to be strong for those who were falling apart. Then she was alone once again with her thoughts, her guilt, and a baby. Never in her life had she felt so alone and not alone. Even though AJ was a baby, it was comforting to have someone with her, but she was still, in a way, alone. Even when being alone would be too much for her, being able to put AJ to sleep and keep him alive was enough to keep her going._

 _Her hands dropped from the cat to the floor of the tub. AJ… he's gone. She's back to being alone, on her own, and it hasn't been kind to her. All of her thoughts and guilt just piling up on her, making her feel worse and worse every day. It was like weights on her shoulders, getting heavier and heavier, it felt like it was going to crush her. Then her depression really took hold and nearly threw her life off a bridge._ _Clementine wiped the tears from her face. She hated this feeling. She wanted to see life for what it is and she didn't want to be depressed anymore. She wanted it to stop! Clem couldn't force herself to be happy, no matter how hard she tried. There wasn't any joy in surviving one day after another. It was a rut. There's joy in people, but it only feels worse when they die._

 _The cat headbutted her arm, wanting her to pet him more. "At least someone wants to be with me… I wouldn't even be with me."_

 _She hated the self-loathing. That is something she found so strange and stupid; after a bad day of depression, what really kicked her down and kept her down was herself. It wasn't the memories or the faces that haunt her, it was her hammering detrimental thoughts about herself in her own head. But she had to let this horrible feeling out in some way._

" _You've been surviving on your own, huh? I have, too. Not the whole time, but I'm on my own now. How long have you been alone?"_

 _She sighed._

" _Great, you're talking to cats now." She looked at the cat's neck again. "I guess you've been like this for a while."_

 _Clementine thought for a moment. Chances are the cat is a stray, even before this whole mess started. Smart cat managed to survive this long, she could only wonder how many people have met this cat._

" _I've been alone for a few months now." It was kind of nice to talk to someone, even if that someone was a cat who only wanted pets. "So, do you have a name?"_

 _No collar. Right… If she was going to hang out with a cat for the rest of the day might as well give it a name. Clementine stared at the cat for a moment, her mind trying to pick out a name. She knew a lot of people and she didn't want to use any of those names._

" _Charlie?" the name rolled off her tongue. "Yeah, you look like a Charlie."_

 _MEOW!_

" _Hi, Charlie. I'm Clementine." She didn't have anything else to lose, what's one more introduction going to cost her? To a cat, nonetheless. It was nice to have someone to talk to. But would the world take this away, too?_

 _No. If Charlie has been surviving for this long, then he would be fine. Charlie just does whatever he wants and he doesn't care. Hell, if she stops petting him he'll leave her. Clem wished she could be like that, but everything is just so fucking hard, she just didn't want to be depressed anymore, she didn't want everything she did to be draining for her, she wanted to find a will to live, but that wasn't going to happen._

 _Her stomach growled, reminding her she hasn't eaten in a couple days. Charlie paused at the sound then resumed butting his head at her hands. She thought about Charlie, comparing herself to him. If he wanted something he was going to fight for it, that's how he got in. It was raining and he wanted to find shelter. Clementine isn't fighting for anything, she's wallowing in her self-doubt, self-hatred, guilt, and depression. She's not fighting it, she just wants it to swallow her whole and kill her. She wanted it to be over._

 _Her head turned towards the open door and looked down the hall. Charlie is alive because he fought to survive; he got in and he got some pets and scratches from her. From the purrs, he seemed happy from just that. Something so simple as getting scratches was all it took. She's been fighting to survive for years, and all that's gotten her was trauma. The last time she felt happy was with AJ. She wished that she could feel that again. Maybe she could. It wouldn't be as good as AJ, and far from before everything began, but something that could give her slight joy. And like Charlie, she had to fight for it._

 _Clementine took a deep breath and got out of the tub with the blanket still around her shoulders. Charlie followed her as she walked down the hall to her bag in the living room and pulled out a granola bar and a map. Clem sat down on the floor and unfolded the map. Depression wasn't something she could fight and it would go away immediately, it was going to take some time and effort, but if it could help her find some sort of happiness, then she'll take it._

 _Besides, she hasn't been to the beach in so long. Charlie headbutted her arm as she ate the granola bar._

 _And maybe he can come, too._

* * *

Clementine hid behind a tree as the forest stopped in front of her. They made it back to the rest stop. Aside from walkers roaming around, it seemed safe. She didn't see those robbers from earlier so that was a plus. And right there in the middle of it all was a red gas canister.

Clementine began to step forward, drawing out her knife with one hand then felt a hand on her arm pull her back. She turned her head back to David who was in full disapproval of the situation.

She yanked her arm out of his grip with a glare.

"This is stupid." David said again.

"It'll be worth it." Clementine said back. "I'll get the canister."

"No, you won't." He said.

"Do you think you'll be able to sneak past them like I can?"

David was silent.

"I need you to watch my back." She told him.

The tone wasn't harsh like before. She trusted him to keep her safe.

"I'll try to be fast."

And with that said she ran off towards the rest stop. Clementine ducked down behind a car, peering over the side to plan her next moves. She should go from car to car, silently killing any walker in her way. Clementine began to crouch walk slowly, sneaking up to a walker from behind. Then in a swift movement, she stabbed it in the head. She stood still for a moment, wanting to make sure that didn't cause every walker to come toward her. The other walkers didn't care and she continued onward.

David watched as she continued the pattern of staying hidden and killing walkers, progressively getting closer to the gas canister. She was doing well. This is a world that she's grown up in, surviving is all she knows.

Clementine grabbed the canister and began heading back towards David.

"This is all your fault!"

Clementine bolted to the nearest car for cover at the voice. She peered over the hood and saw the two thieves from before. They were over by the rest stop bathrooms. The voice was directed at each other and not her, they haven't spotted her. They did catch the attention of a couple walkers that were staggering towards them. Her eyes moved to the forest to where she spotted David with his gun out, just in case. He saw them too.

Fuck.

"You should have tied them up!" The thief continued.

Clementine snuck her way over to the next vehicle for cover.

"There was two of them! I can't exactly keep an eye on them both!"

The other one spoke.

She peered around the car and waited for them to strike at a walker then crept over to the next car. Almost there.

The walker growls go silent. Fuck, did they? Clementine looked through the car window to see that there were no more walkers. They were all dead. Shit.

"How could you? You were to busy talking to them when you should have made sure they wouldn't get the upper hand!"

As they were turned to each other, Clementine quickly made it to the car closest to the forest. She just had to walk across the grass… The very open grass with nowhere to hide. She could see David hidden behind a tree.

"Wouldn't you be more at ease if someone was talking to you?"

"Were thieves, not shrinks."

She peered from behind the car to the two, they were walking to the middle of the rest stop, investigating cars. She can't book it towards the forest, they'd notice.

Clementine took a deep breath and began walking towards the forest, gas canister in hand. She continued to listen to the thieves' conversation behind her because that's her only cue if they notice her.

She made eye contact with David, his eyes were darting back and forth from her to whom she assumed was the two thieves. Clementine soon saw the look on his face morph into worry as she heard the voices trail off.

A gun clicked in the distance, then David quickly stepped out from behind the tree and shot at the two.

 _BANG!_

Clementine heard them yell profanities at them as David grabbed the gas and her forearm and began running.

 _BANG!_

David was faster than her, and she tripped over her feet a couple times as he pulled her along trying to get away. With her free hand, she grabbed David's gun and fired back at the distant figures chasing them.

 _BANG!_

There was a shout.

 _BANG!_

Clementine stumbled again, but found her footing as David pulled her along. As she looked back the two figures were gone, but she didn't care. They just needed to get away from them as far and as fast as they could.

David didn't know how long they were running for, but eventually, he slowed down. He let go of Clementine's arm and set the gas down so he could breathe. He glanced over his shoulder, aside from their heavy breathing, no sound of those two assholes coming for them. Clem must have shot one of them at least.

Clementine hissed. David turned to her to see she was leaning up against a tree, clutching her thigh. He immediately went over to her.

"Did you get shot?"

"Yes… No… I don't think so." She pulled her hand away from her leg slightly then pressed it back on her wound when she saw blood.

David looked back at the direction they came from, then back at Clem. He didn't know how long they could stay here. "Give me your bag." he said to her.

Clementine did as he told, her hands quickly going back to her thigh. David slung her bag over his shoulder and grabbed the gas with one hand. "Keep applying pressure." David lifted her off the ground and began to carry her in his arms as he continued forward. They just had to get far enough away to make sure those two don't get the jump on them.

"You don't need to carry me." Clementine said.

"Do you think you can walk?" David asked her. "We shouldn't have gone back."

"We have gas."

"We have one canister more."

"For the car that's fast."

"If the car is still there."

Clementine scoffed and rolled her eyes. Her thigh burned, but it wasn't as bad as when she was shot by Arvo. David could see a large rock up ahead, he remembered passing it on their way to the rest stop. They were headed the right way at least. He glanced over his shoulder, not seeing anyone behind him, then made his way towards the rock. David set Clem down on the rock then looked through their stuff. Clementine handed him back his gun, then he grabbed a cloth and a canteen and he used it to dampen the cloth.

"Let me see." He said.

Clementine hissed when she removed her hand. David sighed in relief, the bullet only grazed her skin, it didn't fully hit her. He used the damp cloth to clean up the wound through the fresh cut on her pants. Clementine grabbed her bag and pulled out a shirt that was way too big for her. He watched her tear off a long strip then stuff the rest back in her bag.

David felt a ping in his chest. This is what she uses for bandages and gauze. Torn clothing. He couldn't blame her, any kind of medical wrapping is rare and you take what you can get, but she was using a shirt and she seemed one hundred percent okay with it. He's been lucky to be in a place with the best medicine that was available these days.

"Do you have peroxide?" David asked.

Clementine thought then shook her head as she began wrapping her wound. She tied it with a tight tug and tucked the ends in then she stood up, zipping up her backpack and throwing it over her shoulder. They had to keep going.

"You're not walking." David said to her as he grabbed his bag and the gas.

Clementine ignored him and took a step on her bad leg only to limp onto the other one. She grunted in pain but still took another limping step forward.

David grabbed her arm, stopping her in her tracks. She looked back at him, eyes like daggers.

"You are _not_ walking!" David said more sternly.

"It's. Fine." she responded in the same tone of voice, yanking her arm out of his grip.

"You got shot."

"It's a graze, I can walk."

She continued forward again, limping one step. He didn't understand what she was doing.

"Why are you doing this?" David asked.

"Doing what?" She glared back.

"Acting like this with a goddamn injury. I know you're smarter than this, Clementine, I've seen you act smarter than this." David stepped closer to her. "You always act like you need to prove something."

Clem shook her head. "You have no idea…" she spoke. "What it's like, being someone like me in all this, do you?"

David didn't say anything, confused at what she was getting at.

"Surviving may just be another thing to adults and to asses like you, but for me? It's a hundred times more work than that." Clementine folded her arms. "I may be alive, but the rest of this world sees me as a small kid. A small kid who can't defend herself, who can get taken advantage of, someone who's a liability. And the moment you become a liability, you die or someone else does because of you."

He continued to stay silent.

"I've seen it…" She continued as she turned to him. "Every day I have to prove myself because if I don't, I become a liability. If I don't walk this off, I'm responsible for someone's death." Clementine always made sure that AJ didn't become that for her. She did her best to make sure she had baby food, water, clothes, pacifiers, anything and everything so she was prepared for him. She already knew what she was going to teach him when he gets older; how to survive. He wasn't going to get anyone killed and he sure as hell won't die.

"You're not a liability, Clem. Anyone with half a brain would see that." David understood what she was getting at, her attitude and actions, why she wants to do everything, it's because she feels like she has to.

"My brain isn't even fully developed, I'm not sure if I'm worth someone with half of one."

A walker stumbled came out of nowhere and started towards them. She pulled out her gun and checked to see she had one bullet left. Clementine aimed and fired, not surprised that only a poof came out. She shook off her chills and pulled her knife out and took one step closer to the walker, using her bad leg to kick its knee, then stabbing it in the head.

"Don't patronize me." Clementine said. "That's all I ask."

She ripped her knife out of the skull and kept walking, her leg limping with her. David understood what she wanted. She wanted respect, to be treated as equal. Her life has been revolved around the fact that she's a child. He can't imagine how many deaths she believes are her fault. All that guilt, morphing into her thoughts and actions, why she's pushing forward on a grazed leg. Still, even with that, he couldn't let her walk injured. David took hold of her backpack strap and pulled slightly to stop her. She turned to him with an irritated look on her face.

"I respect you, Clem." David said to her. She could see he was genuine. "And out of respect, I want to carry you so you don't hurt yourself more."

They both stared at each other for a moment, they were both stubborn. Clementine felt her leg burn. They'd be able to get back to the car faster if David carries her, and the faster they move, the faster they get AJ. She gave in and slackened her shoulders and let the backpack slide off her. David slung one strap over his shoulder then lifted her up in his arms like before and headed back the way they came, to the car.

Clementine's eyes closed, she hated feeling like she couldn't do anything.

"You need to stay awake, Clem."

"I know." She said. "I can walk if you get tired."

"You're not that heavy."

Clementine didn't say anything. She just fiddled with her stub. David noticed.

"Something on your mind?" He asked. He's not going to let it go, she's thinking of something when she plays with her stub.

"No… it's just been a long day."

He signed. "It has."

Clementine was exhausted. From this morning to now, they've been backtracking in order to get to AJ. It sucked, and to top it off, she got shot.

She was still hung up on David's words to her, how he respected her. Did he really? Even when they started traveling when she was so expressive about how she didn't want him here and she's called him an ass twice now. Sure, their truce was there, but it doesn't change how she acts around him or how she feels. He was an asshole and before their trip and she felt nothing but hatred towards him, but now…

"Do you really respect me?" She asked him.

David looked down at her as his pace slowed, then straight ahead as he picked it back up. "You saved my family's lives and you've saved my life, even after everything; I'd be stupid if I didn't respect you."

Clementine exhaled as she stared at the hands in her lap. She didn't know what to think. Maybe…

Maybe he's not that much of an asshole.

* * *

 **A/N: Hope you enjoyed! I'll try to get another chapter out soon! Hope you have a nice night... or day... Also I'm shook from the final season, slay Clem! What a queen!**


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